EPA New “Science ‘Transparency'” Plan… and More EPA News Coverage Updates!

EPA News Updates (End):

EPA finalizes ‘secret science’ rule, limiting use of public health research (Rebecca BEITSCH, The Hill; January 5, 2021)

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/532647-epa-finalizes-secret-science-rule-limiting-use-of-public-health

Trump EPA finalizes rollback making it harder to enact new public health rules (Juliet EILPERIN and Brady DENNIS, Washington Post; December 9, 2020)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/12/09/trump-air-pollution/

Trump Administration Declines to Tighten Soot Rules, Despite Links to COVID Deaths (Coral DAVENPORT, New York Times; December 7, 2020)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/07/climate/trump-epa-soot-covid.html

Indigenous Leaders Furious After EPA Grants Oklahoma Control Over Sovereign Tribal Lands (Brett WILKINS, Common Dreams; October 5, 2020)

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/05/indigenous-leaders-furious-after-epa-grants-oklahoma-control-over-sovereign-tribal

EPA Ignores Evidence Chlorpyrifos Causes Permanent Damage To Children’s Brains (Press Release, EarthJustice; September 22, 2020)

https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2020/epa-ignores-evidence-chlorpyrifos-causes-permanent-damage-to-childrens-brains

E. P. A. Relaxes Rules Limiting Toxic Waste From Coal Plants (Lisa FRIEDMAN, New York Times; August 31, 2020)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/31/climate/trump-coal-plants.html

Thousands allowed to bypass environmental rules in pandemic (Ellen KNICKMEYER, Cathy BUSSEWITZ, John FLESHER, Matthew BROWN and Michael CASEY, Associated Press; August 24, 2020)

https://apnews.com/7730211ba94ef6e1c79167a30f7ef6e2

E. P. A. to Lift Obama-Era Controls on Methane, a Potent Greenhouse Gas (Coral DAVENPORT, New York Times; August 10, 2020)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/10/climate/trump-methane-climate-change.html

Perchlorate in drinking water doesn’t need US federal limits, says EPA [Cheryl HOGUE, Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN); June 19, 2020]

https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/Perchlorate-drinking-water-doesnt-need/98/i24

E. P. A. Limits States’ Power to Oppose Pipelines and Other Energy Projects (Lisa FRIEDMAN, New York Times; June 1, 2020)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/01/climate/trump-clean-water-pipelines.html

EPA decides against limits on drinking water pollutant linked to health risks, especially in children (Brady DENNIS and Juliet EILPERIN, Washington Post; May 14, 2020)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/05/14/epa-decides-against-limits-drinking-water-pollutant-linked-health-effects/?mc_cid=fcd6b7e14f&mc_eid=72ff7df6e4

E. P. A. Weakens Control on Mercury (Linda FRIEDMAN and Coral DAVENPORT, New York Times; April 16, 2020)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/climate/epa-mercury-coal.html

EPA Doubles Down On Its Attempt to Censor Science (Vijay LIMAYE, NRDC; March 4, 2020)

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/vijay-limaye/epa-doubles-down-its-attempt-censor-science

Former PG&E Lawyer Takes Reins of EPA’s California Region (1) [Stephen LEE and Emily C. DOOLEY, Bloomberg Environment; February 11, 2020]

https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/former-pg-e-lawyer-takes-reins-of-epas-california-region

E. P. A. Weakens Rules Governing Toxic Water Pollution From Coal Plants (Lisa FRIEDMAN, New York Times; November 4, 2019)

Almost 600 EPA Veterans Call for Investigation into Trump’s Political Abuse of EPA Authority [News, Environmental Integrity Project (EIP); October 10, 2019]

https://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news/almost-600-epa-veterans-call-for-investigation-into-trumps-political-abuse-of-agency-authority/

New E. P. A. Lead Standards Would Slow Replacement of Dangerous Pipes (Coral DAVENPORT, New York Times; October 10, 2019)

EPA, U. S. Army Repeal 2015 Rule Defining “Water of the United States” Ending Regulatory Patchwork (News Release, U. S. EPA; September 12, 2019)

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-us-army-repeal-2015-rule-defining-waters-united-states-ending-regulatory-patchwork

EPA won’t approve warning labels for Roundup chemicals (Adam BEAM, Associated Press; August 9, 2019)

https://www.apnews.com/e8fe1846109c47e8979555f1391af628

EPA clears path for proposed copper and gold mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay (Richard READ, Los Angeles Times; July 30, 2019)

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-07-30/pebble-mine-alaska-epa-salmon

E. P. A. Plans to Curtail the Ability of Communities to Oppose Pollution Permits (Coral DAVENPORT, New York Times; July 12, 2019)

U. S. EPA to revamp pesticide regulations (Britt E. ERICKSON, C&EN News; June 13, 2019)

https://cen.acs.org/environment/pesticides/US-EPA-revamp-pesticide-evaluations/97/i24

EPA exempts farms from reporting pollution tied to animal waste (Rebecca BEITSCH, The Hill; June 5, 2019)

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/447151-epa-exempts-farms-from-reporting-pollution-tied-to-animal-waste?amp

U. S. EPA sued for ousting scientists from advisory committees (Jonathan STEMPEL, Reuters; June 3, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-epa-lawsuit-idUSKCN1T42H8

U. S. environment agency says glyphosate weed killer is not a carcinogen (Tom POLANSEK, Reuters; April 30, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-glyphosate/epa-says-popular-weed-killer-glyphosate-is-not-a-carcinogen-idUSKCN1S62SU

E. P. A. Proposes Weaker Standards on Chemicals Contaminating Drinking Water (Eric LIPTON and Julie TURKEWITZ, New York Times; April 26, 2019)

States say half of wetlands would lose protection under EPA proposal (Reuters; April 16, 2019)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-water/states-say-half-of-wetlands-would-lose-protection-under-epa-proposal-idUSKCN1RS28V

Andrew Wheeler, former energy lobbyist, confirmed as nation’s top environmental official (Brady DENNIS and Juliet EILPERIN, Washington Post; February 28, 2019)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/02/28/andrew-wheeler-former-energy-lobbyist-confirmed-nations-top-environmental-official/?utm_term=.5601ce85477f

EPA stalls review of ‘Erin Brockovitch’ chemical – emails (Corbin HIAR, E&E News; February 22, 2019)

https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060122219

Under Trump, EPA inspections fall to a 10 year low (Juliet EILPERIN and Brad DENNIS; Washington Post; February 8, 2019)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/02/08/under-trump-epa-inspections-fall-year-low/?utm_term=.1eab1f8a2ca6

News: Court Rules EPA Must Turn Over Tens of Thousands of Wheeler, Wherum Emails & Calendars (Press Release, Sierra Club; January 8, 2019)

https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/01/news-court-rules-epa-must-turn-over-tens-thousands-wheeler-wherum-emails

Mercury Limits on Coal Plants No Longer ‘Appropriate’, EPA Says (Jennifer A. DLOUHY, Bloomberg News; December 28, 2018)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-28/mercury-limits-on-coal-plants-no-longer-appropriate-epa-says

EPA to pursue final ‘science transparency’ rule in 2019 (Timothy CAMA, The Hill; December 14, 2018)

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/421479-epa-to-pursue-final-science-transparency-rule-in-2019

EPA’s New Water Rule will gut the Clean Water Act (Sharon LERNER, The Intercept; December 7, 2018)

https://theintercept.com/2018/12/07/epas-new-water-rule-will-gut-the-clean-water-act/

The Assault Against Science Continues at the E. P. A. (Christopher S. ZARBA, New York Times; November 14, 2018)

EPA Announces Changes to Dicamba Registration (Press Release, U. S. EPA; October 31, 2018)

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-changes-dicamba-registration

N. B.: The U. S EPA has officially approved the use of Dicamba for another two years.

Blow for EPA as court blocks bid to slacken safety rules for chemical plants (Oliver MILMAN, The Guardian; 17 August 2018)

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/17/epa-setback-court-chemical-safety-environment

Court orders ban on harmful pesticide, says EPA violated law (Michael BIESECKER, Associated Press; August 9, 2018)

https://apnews.com/e87ad38befdc4a58b0778286404ee826

EPA: Pruitt didn’t rely on science when making comment about climate change (Miranda GREEN, The Hill; August 7, 2018)

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/400707-epa-admits-pruitt-didnt-rely-on-science-when-making-comment-about

EPA eases rules on how coal ash waste is stored in the U. S. (Juliet EILPERIN and Brady DENNIS, Washington Post; July 17, 2018)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/epa-eases-rules-on-how-coal-ash-waste-is-stored-across-the-us/2018/07/17/740e4b9a-89d3-11e8-85ae-511bc1146b0b_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5bdc35911f72

Scott Pruitt gave “super polluting” trucks a gift on his last day at the EPA (Umair IRFAN, Vox.com; July 8, 2018)

https://www.vox.com/2018/7/8/17544380/scott-pruitt-epa-truck-pollution-glider-kit-loophole

Former Inhofe aide Wheeler confirmed as EPA No. 2 (Daniella DIAZ and Ted BARRETT, CNN; April 12, 2018)

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/12/politics/andrew-wheeler-environmental-protection-agency-scott-pruitt-congress/index.html

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Special Report:

The State of Science in the Trump Era (Union of Concerned Scientists; January 2019)

https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2019/01/ucs-trump-2yrs-report.pdf

Appendix: List of Attacks by the Trump Administration

https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2019/01/the-state-of-science-under-trump-appendix.xlsx

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EPA and Radiation Exposure Limits:

Correction: EPA-Radiation Rollback story (Ellen KNICKMEYER, Associated Press; October 8, 2018)

https://apnews.com/6a573b6b020e453c90ecd5e84aa23f57

Trump’s EPA is moving to weaken regulation on radiation exposure (Ellen KNICKMEYER, Associated Press/PBS News Hour; October 2, 2018)

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/trumps-epa-is-moving-to-weaken-regulation-on-radiation-exposure

• Radiation Dosage Chart (MCCANDLESS and HANCOCK, 2013)

https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/radiation-dosage-chart/

Formaldehyde and Leukemia:

Does formaldehyde cause leukemia? A delayed EPA report may hold the answer (Amanda GRENELL, PBS News Hour; August 29, 2018)

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/does-formaldehyde-cause-leukemia-a-delayed-epa-report-may-hold-the-answer

Sources: EPA blocks warnings on cancer-causing chemical (Annie SNIDER, Politico; July 6, 2018)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/06/epa-formaldehyde-warnings-blocked-696628

Pressured by industry, U. S. EPA slows formaldehyde study release: documents (Valerie VOLCOVICI, Reuters; May 28, 2018)

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-formaldehyde/pressured-by-industry-u-s-epa-slows-formaldehyde-study-release-documents-idUSKCN1IP3EX
N. B.: Formaldehyde IRIS Assessment Presentation – January 24, 2018

(Retrieved from the aforementioned Reuters article)

http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/reuterscom/1/67/67/Final%20-%20Presentation%20for%20EPA%20Meeting%20-%20Final%2001%2023%2018.pdf

Six years after the NRC review of EPA’s Draft IRIS Toxicological Review of Formaldehyde: Regulatory implications of new science in evaluating formaldehyde leukemogenicity (MUNDT et al., 2018)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027323001730363X/pdfft?md5=82bc2ca16e6213b361a650127adf3a95&pid=1-s2.0-S027323001730363X-main.pdf&download=true&isDTMRedir=true

Formaldehyde and Leukemia: Epidemiology, Potential Mechanisms and Implications for Risk Assessment (ZHANG et al., 2010)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2839060/pdf/nihms-158490.pdf

EPA National Leadership Summit on PFAS, Toxic Chemicals:

New! EPA says it will start process to regulate PFOA and PFOS this year (John HURDLE and Susan PHILLIPS, State Impact Pennsylvania; February 14, 2019)

https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2019/02/14/epa-says-it-will-begin-to-regulate-pfoa-and-pfos-this-year/

• EPA’s Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Action Plan [EPA 823R18004; February 2019]

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2019-02/documents/pfas_action_plan_021319_508compliant_1.pdf

EPA reverses media ban at summit on toxic chemicals (Emily HOLDEN and Annie SNIDER, Politico; May 22, 2018)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/22/epa-kicks-out-reporters-from-summit-on-toxic-chemicals-602667

EPA bans CNN, AP from covering summit on chemicals, ‘forcibly’ removes reporter (Natasha GEILING, ThinkProgress.org; May 22, 2018)

https://thinkprogress.org/epa-bans-reporters-chemical-summit-38df2278334a/

Pruitt: EPA will weigh regulation of two toxic chemicals. Advocates are skeptical (Jon HURDLE, State Impact Pennsylvanian/NPR; May 22, 2018)

https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2018/05/22/pruitt-epa-will-weigh-regulation-of-two-toxic-chemicals-advocates-are-skeptical/

White House, EPA headed off chemical pollution study (Annie SNIDER, Politico; May 14, 2018)

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/14/emails-white-house-interfered-with-science-study-536950

EPA to Convene National Leadership Summit to Take Action on PFAS (News Releases, U. S. EPA; March 19, 2018)

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-convene-national-leadership-summit-take-action-pfas

EPA’s “New Science” Plan:

With a quarter million comments in, EPA set to move on contentious ‘secret science’ rule (John SICILIANO, Washington Examiner; August 16, 2018)

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/with-a-quarter-million-comments-in-epa-set-to-move-on-contentious-secret-science-rule

EPA Enforcement Rollback Could Increase Toxic Air Pollution (Press Release, Union of Concerned Scientists; April 24, 2018)

https://www.ucsusa.org/news/press-release/MACT-change-interactive-map#.WuCrdi7wbIU

EPA Decision Increases Hazardous Air Pollution Risk (Interactive Maps, Union of Concerned Scientists; April 24, 2018)

https://www.ucsusa.org/science-and-democracy/epa-decision-increases-hazardous-air-pollution-risk#.WuCvJC7wbIU

EPA MACT/OIAI Policy Withdrawal Analysis Data (Juan DECLET-BARRETO; 2018-04-24)

https://osf.io/9nd4k/

EPA Plan Would Discount Health Benefits of Reducing CO₂ Emissions (E&E News, Scientific American; March 26, 2018)

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/epa-plan-would-discount-health-benefits-of-reducing-co2-emissions/

Video:

Excerpt from Disney Pixar’s “Inside Out” (Disgust’s Reaction…)