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recyclable packing
Emerging Issues / New York
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New York May Adopt Extended Producer-Responsibility Laws to Combat Consumer Waste

New York may be on board to be the fifth state in the nation to hold producers responsible for packaging products. 

Thus far, Maine, Oregon, Colorado, and California have enacted extended producer-responsibility laws.  The EPR laws assign both financial and operational responsibility for the end of life of products, and are an important tool for managing and lowering consumer waste. In other words, the programs require the producers of packaging products to finance the costs of recycling or disposing of products that consumers no longer …

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concept of cyber attack Cyber security is compromised. when the armor is destroyed The red key and the structure explode the polygon into smaller pieces. Computer system technology has been hacked.
Cybersecurity / EPA
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Cyber-Waterfare: the EPA Moves to Protect Key Infrastructure from Hackers

In 2021, an unidentified person hacked the computer controlling the water system in Oldsmar, Fla., and increased the concentration of sodium hydroxide 100 times the normal amount, in an attempt to poison people. 

That same year, an unidentified hacker used a stolen password to delete certain programs from a water treatment program in the San Francisco Bay area.

Part of the reason attacks like these are increasing in number and sophistication is because there quite simply may not be a sufficient apparatus to prevent them. …

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detail of white smoke polluted sky
Emissions / EPA
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Court Denies Challenge to EPA Emissions Rule, Defers Due to Rule’s “Complex and Technical” Nature

Companies operating in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia – whose operations involve the release of emissions — will need to consult the Environmental Protection Agency’s Revised Cross-State Air Pollution Update Rule to determine whether their operations might be affected by the Federal Implementation Plan.

The rule requires power plants and other high-emitting machinery to install emission-reduction equipment and update pollution controls.

The District of Columbia Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals unanimously …

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Close up view of railroad, transport background
Emerging Issues / EPA
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What We Know – and Might Never Know – about the East Palestine, Ohio, Train Derailment

A few hours after dinner time on Feb. 3, and approximately 20 miles following a dramatic slow-down from a speed of 50 miles per hour to about half that, a Norfolk Southern freight train consisting of 38 cars – 11 of which were carrying hazardous materials – derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.

Although the derailment released several types of chemicals, many of which can break down or react with elements in the environment, five of those 11 cars contained vinyl chloride, a highly flammable chemical …

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blurred river
EPA / WOTUS
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New Year, New WOTUS: Is There Resolution in Sight?

The Environmental Protection Agency’s and Army Corps of Engineers’ “Revised Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’”(WOTUS) rule will become final on March 20. This latest iteration codifies the agencies’ pre-2015 approach to defining WOTUS and attempts to establish a bridge between the interpretations offered by the prior two administrations. In particular, the rule’s preamble specifically states that in “developing this rule, the agencies considered the text of the relevant provisions of the Clean Water Act and the statute as a whole, the scientific record, …

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Oil Workers at Dusk
Climate Change / Litigation
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Oil Giant’s Directors Sued Personally for “Flawed” Climate Strategy in One-of-a-Kind Lawsuit

Lawyers at the environmental law firm ClientEarth earlier this month personally sued the directors of one of the largest oil producers in a derivative action for their alleged failure to manage material and foreseeable climate risks. 

ClientEarth filed the action at the High Court of Justice in England and Wales, alleging breach of UK company law. In total, 11 of the company’s directors are named. At issue is whether the 11 board members breached their duty to shareholders by not properly managing climate risk.

If you’re …

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An Unrecognizable Caucasian Woman Buying Some Cosmetic Products
Emerging Issues
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Social Media Draws Viral Attention to Unfortunate Consequence of Paraben-Free Beauty Products

“Clean beauty” has taken over the cosmetics industry in the past several years, and while there is no official definition of the term, it is generally understood to refer to cosmetic products free from chemicals such as phthalates, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, and parabens, which is the term used for a group of preservatives used in beauty products.

Following the trend, in recent years, beauty and cosmetics retail giants such as Sephora and Ulta Beauty have designated “clean” products with certain labeling if they omit ingredients …

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Close up the pouring purified fresh drink water from the bottle on table in living room
EPA / PFAS
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EPA: $2 Billion in Funds to Address Emerging Contaminants, Build on PFAS Strategic Roadmap

The EPA announced Monday the availability of $2 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address emerging contaminants such as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in drinking water across the country. This investment, allocated to states and territories, will be made available to communities as grants through EPA’s Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities (EC-SDC) Grant Program and will “promote access to safe and clean water in small, rural, and disadvantaged communities while supporting local economies.”

“These grants build on EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and will …

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Garbage pile in trash dump or landfill. Pollution concept.
Climate Change / Emissions
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Waste Reduction Programs to Take on Climate Change

In 2015, California’s former governor Edmund Brown Jr. set methane emissions-reduction targets for the state. Senate Bill 1383 requires that California reduce organic waste disposal 75 percent by the year 2025. Although most Californians did not begin to understand what these targets meant, 2022 marked the beginning of new waste disposal requirements for many statewide. These requirements include organics curbside-collection services and new waste collection bins designed specifically for organic waste (including, in some areas, bins designed to go inside residential refrigerators for food waste.)

Each city …

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Ecological catastrophe
Coal Ash / EPA
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EPA Being Pushed Off the Fence on Coal Ash

With names like “boiler slag” and “bottom ash,” it’s no wonder that anyone who has ever heard of coal ash, or the coal combustion residuals (CCRs) produced from burning coal, assumes they are the basest forms of pollution. And they’re not entirely wrong; bottom ash is the burn-up matter that is too large to be carried up into the smoke stacks so it collects in the bottom of a coal furnace. Boiler slag is the glassy pellets that form in the bottom of coal stoves …

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