EPA
EPA Spurns Trump-Era Effort to Drop Clean-Air Protections For Plastic Waste Recycling
Reversing its own Trump-era proposal, the Environmental Protection Agency has spurned a lobbying effort by the chemical industry to relax clean-air regulations on two types of chemical or “advanced” recycling of plastics. The decision, announced by the EPA on May 24, covers pyrolysis and gasification, two processes that use chemical methods to break down plastic […]
Read MoreMethane Mitigation in Texas Could Create Thousands of Jobs in the Oil and Gas Sector
A new report finds that methane regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency could spur job growth in Texas as oil and gas operators measure, monitor and mitigate the harmful greenhouse gas. While Texas officials argue the methane regulations would kill jobs, the report, published today by the Texas Climate Jobs Project and the Ray […]
Read MoreAs EPA Proposes Tougher Rules on Emissions, Report Names Pennsylvania as One of America’s Top Polluters
PHILADELPHIA—Pennsylvania’s role as the birthplace of American democracy is a staple of elementary school history lessons. Fewer are aware of another distinction held by the Keystone State—that as one of the cradles of American energy production. The nation’s first oil well was drilled in 1859 in Titusville, about 100 miles north of Pittsburgh. Eight years […]
Read MoreThe EPA’s New ‘Technical Assistance Centers’ Are a Big Deal for Environmental Justice. Here’s Why
Maria Lopez-Nunez knows all too well how difficult obtaining a federal grant can be. Some grant applications run upwards of 100 pages long and are riddled with obscure jargon. Applicants are often required to provide detailed data that can only be acquired by conducting a study or survey. And federal agencies, according to Lopez-Nunez, often […]
Read MoreFor the First Time in Nearly Two Decades, the EPA Announces New Rules to Limit Toxic Air Pollutants From Chemical and Plastics Plants
The administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency used the smokestacks of Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley” as the backdrop on Thursday to announce new rules aimed at reducing harmful, toxic emissions from chemical and plastics plants across the country. “For generations, our most vulnerable communities have unjustly borne the burden of breathing unsafe, polluted air,” Michael S. […]
Read MoreAfter Two Decades of Controversy, the EPA Uses Its ‘Veto’ Power to Kill the Pebble Mine in Southwest Alaska
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday a move to protect one of the world’s largest salmon runs—in Alaska’s Bristol Bay—by vetoing a controversial plan for a copper and gold mine in the region. The decision prohibits disposal of mining waste in streams that support the Bristol Bay fishery and aims to prevent “unacceptable adverse effects” […]
Read MoreAfter a Decade, Federal Officials Tighten Guidelines on Air Pollution
As a child, Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir remembers being taken from doctor to doctor by her parents as they searched desperately for a way to manage her asthma. She wondered then if there was something in the air that made it difficult for her to breathe. Today, Lovinsky-Desir is a pediatric pulmonologist, using her childhood experience with […]
Read MoreThe EPA Is Helping School Districts Purchase Clean-Energy School Buses, But Some Districts Have Been Blocked From Participating
WASHINGTON—The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program has hit a speed bump. Part of the bipartisan infrastructure law passed last year, the program will provide $5 billion over the next five years to help school districts switch to clean energy school buses. However, some districts are blocked from participating due to the EPA’s requirement […]
Read MoreCongress Urges EPA to Maintain Clean-Air Regulations on Chemical Recycling of Plastics
In a report tied to the massive $1.7 trillion federal budget bill signed last week by President Joe Biden, Congress has signaled to the Environmental Protection Agency that it should not loosen regulations around the chemical recycling of plastic waste. The advice from lawmakers was included in wording in a House Appropriations Committee report on […]
Read MoreAs EPA’s Region 3 Administrator, Adam Ortiz Wants the Mid-Atlantic States to Become Climate-Conscious and Resilient
EDMONSTON, Maryland—On a gray day in early fall, Adam Ortiz stepped out of La Fondita restaurant for a stroll along Decatur Street, the main thoroughfare that runs through this working-class town tucked away in the northwest corner of Prince George’s County in the Washington suburbs. Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mid-Atlantic Region, Ortiz’ career […]
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