Category: EPA

Flag of the US State of Louisiana
EPA / Louisiana
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EPA Disparate Impact Assessments Permanently Halted by Louisiana Federal Court

On August 22, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana permanently blocked the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice from implement Civil Rights Act Title VI “disparate impact” regulations within the state of Louisiana. Disparate impact assessments are typically undertaken by the federal government when determining harms to communities significantly impacted – typically lower-income communities and communities of color – by large governmental projects and industrial or commercial permitting changes. Disparate impact assessments have been prioritized by …

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Tractor spraying crops
EPA
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For the First Time in Four Decades, EPA Uses Emergency Suspension Power on a Pesticide

On August 6, the Environmental Protection Agency issued an Emergency Order directing the suspension of all registrations issued under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for pesticide products containing the active ingredient dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA), also marketed under the trade name Dacthal. According to EPA, this is the “first time in almost 40 years that EPA is using its emergency suspension authority to stop the use of a pesticide.”

DCPA is a benzoic acid herbicide that inhibits cell division of root tips in …

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close-up view of water flowing from tap into glass
EPA / SDWA
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EPA Seeks Input from Small Businesses on Proposed Regulations for Drinking Water

Opportunity knocks for water treatment entities to provide their input on new regulations about to be rolled out by EPA that could either boost or harm their businesses. The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires EPA to establish a panel, including small businesses that may be economically impacted before any revisions to regulations become effective. But beware, the deadline only provides one week to apply.

The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a review every six years covering the existing …

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Landfill with blue sky and cumulus clouds
Clean Air Act / EPA
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EPA not Afraid of Changin’, Wants Landfills to Bring it (Methane Emission) Down

The Environmental Protection Agency intends to issue a rule updating its Clean Air Act emission standards for new and existing municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills to cut methane and other harmful landfill gas emissions. 

The rule follows another Clean Air Act-related proposal the EPA issued in January, designed to reduce emissions of nine pollutants, including smog- and soot-forming sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides by approximately 14,000 tons per year at MSW incinerators, as found here.

The EPA expects landfill operators to achieve these standards …

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Hazy morning pollution and dusty smoke and smog atmosphere in Bangkok
EPA
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In Aftermath of Supreme Court Decisions in Ohio and Loper, EPA’s Defense of ‘Good Neighbor Plan’ Persists

The Environmental Protection Agency’s implementation of the 2015 National Ambient Air Quality Standards “Good Neighbor Plan” (GNP) was met with a fury of legal challenges (see ELM’s previous coverage of EPA’s GNP here).   

Then, on June 27, the Supreme Court in Ohio v. EPA (Ohio) issued a 5-4 opinion granting a temporary stay of EPA’s implementation of its Good Neighbor Plan (see ELM’s recent coverage of Ohio v. EPA here). However, in another landmark 5-4 decision that same day, the Supreme …

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Long exposure of Hudson Yards and Midtown Manhattan across the Hudson River on a hazy day where the Canadian fire smoke engulfs the city including the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building
Clean Air Act / EPA
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EPA Clearly Wants the Haze Gone

On a clear day, you can’t actually see forever — if you follow the blue sky out to the horizon, you will often see it become somewhat more pale and opaque, owing to ‘visible pollution,’ or “haze” — the result of the interaction of sunlight with particulate matter in the air.

Before the modern industrial age, haze was largely attributed to wind-blown dust, soot from wild-fires, and other types of volatile organic compounds (VOC) released by trees and plants into the atmosphere from America’s vast …

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United States Environmental Protection Agency sign on the Clinton building
Emissions / EPA
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Won’t You Be My [Non-Emitting] Neighbor? SCOTUS Stays EPA’s Federal Emissions Plan for States

Last week, in a 5-4 opinion, in Ohio v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court granted applications for a stay of the implementation of the “Good Neighbor” Plan, the EPA’s federal emissions reduction rule, set in 2015. The application of this rule was intended to address transboundary ozone pollution that can exacerbate health hazards. As previously explained by ELM, the Clean Air Act’s Good Neighbor provision enabled the EPA to require each state to implement regulations meant to reduce emissions that would …

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EPA Offices, Washington DC
EPA / PFAS
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EPA Releases Updated Guidance on Destroying and Disposing PFAS

In furtherance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which our firm has written about frequently, the EPA released an updated guide on destroying and disposing of PFAS.

According to EPA, the updated guidance (found here) reflects the “latest, best available science” to provide information that managers of PFAS wastes can use to evaluate the most appropriate destruction, disposal, or storage method. EPA instructs that the primary audience of this guidance are decision makers who need to identify the most effective …

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Heap of rechargeable batteries of differentes sizes, NiMH rechargeable.
EPA
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US EPA’s Proposed New Rule: An Assault on Batteries?

On June 5, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed limits on the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP), a solvent found in products such as arts and crafts supplies and paint remover. Manufacturers also use NMP during the production of semiconductors and lithium-ion batteries. Studies link NMP to a range of negative health effects, including miscarriages, reduced male fertility, and damage to the liver, kidneys, and immune and nervous systems.

The US EPA’s proposed rule bans the commercial use of NMP in automotive care products, cleaning and …

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Hand with a spatula renovating the paint.
Emerging Issues / EPA
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Don’t you know that you’re toxic? EPA spears most uses of controversial solvent.

In late April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a ban on most uses of methylene chloride, a toxic solvent used for paint stripping and linked to over 85 deaths in the last 45 years. The ban forbids all consumer use of the substance, as well as most industrial and commercial uses. TheEPA did not completely ban all uses — it did allow some exemptions for the military, in addition to makers of climate-friendly coolants and electric-vehicle components.

Users often employ methylene chloride to refinish bathtubs …

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