Category: EPA

In advance of the government shutdown, the EPA released its contingency plan on September 29, outlining its procedures during the funding lapse.

Key provisions include:

• Approximately 89 percent of EPA’s employees will be furloughed.
• Research and publication activities will be put on pause unless necessary for exempted or excepted activities.
• Certain Superfund activities will cease where there is no imminent threat to health and property.
• There will be no issuance of permits, guidance, regulations, and policies unless necessary for exempted or excepted activities.
• Approvals of

The Environmental Protection Agency announced last week a new initiative in which the agency will prioritize the review of new chemicals under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA) intended for use in data center projects pursuant to Executive Order 14318, ‘Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure.’

Under TSCA, manufacturers and processors are required to submit pre-manufacture notices for new chemicals. They are also required to submit a significant new use notice if they plan to use existing chemicals for new uses.

In particular, Section …

The Environmental Protection Agency announced July 18 it would continue workforce reductions through the elimination of its Office of Research and Development, which provides the independent scientific research that underpins nearly all the agency’s policies and regulations.

For decades, the science office has analyzed a multitude of risks, including the impacts of hazardous chemicals, hydraulic fracking, contamination to public water supplies, and wildfire smoke. Industrial manufacturers have historically been critical of the research by the Office of Research and Development because it frequently was used …