The Defense Department's broad interpretation of legal provisions that free DOD and other entities from liability for pollution solely caused by an "act of war" is sparking a conflict with EPA and other federal land management agencies at contaminated sites on two Alaskan islands as well as a dispute over language in a draft revised DOD cleanup manual, informed sources say.1051 words

The Air Force says it is moving ahead with cleanup at a controversial Florida Superfund site without conceding to an EPA order or signing a final enforceable cleanup accord -- a move which at least one environmentalist says effectively challenges EPA's cleanup authority.1172 words

EPA is moving forward with its controversial plans to establish a new interim cleanup target for sites contaminated with dioxin, having sent the latest version of its proposal to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for review Aug. 10.331 words

The Defense Department is warning EPA that its just-issued risk assessment of dioxane, a chemical found in industrial solvents and personal care products, is vulnerable to a Data Quality Act (DQA) challenge because EPA completed the assessment without external review of a revised version of a key study the agency relied on.1201 words

The Defense Department is asking EPA to develop scientifically-sound guidance before finalizing a proposed rule on water effluent testing methods for wastewater and industrial dischargers, echoing recent comments from industry.563 words

EPA and environmentalists are increasingly seeking to strengthen Clean Water Act (CWA) rules governing how states designate waterbodies' uses in response to a slew of efforts by cash-strapped states to change the designation of certain waterbodies as a way to reduce the need to develop costly pollution control plans.1331 words

EPA's impending revisions to its water quality standards rules will not establish criteria by which to rank different uses that can be designated for a waterbody, as the agency encourages states to ensure all waterbodies get as close as possible to the default "fishable and swimmable" uses defined in the Clean Water Act, agency officials say.462 words

EPA in a new draft report is outlining a number of steps it wants to take to boost its existing Clean Water Act (CWA) authority through new regulatory, permitting and enforcement efforts, while saying Congress needs to pass legislation clarifying the scope of the CWA to ensure EPA can implement some of the steps.634 words

EPA is poised to hold a series of meetings with officials from other federal agencies to discuss a series of cross-cutting science policy issues, such as application of its cancer guidelines when setting safety limits for chemicals, that the agencies and industry groups have raised but which have complicated EPA efforts to complete a host of pending risk assessments.796 words

EPA is considering changes to a controversial draft guidance for estimating the dose at which a chemical or pollutant poses a risk, a method known as benchmark dose (BMD) modeling, with federal agencies providing comment on a revised version of a 2000 draft document that the agency has never issued in final form.818 words

A host of major industry groups are calling for EPA to significantly revise its controversial draft risk assessment of arsenic -- and allow an expanded public and peer review process because agency deviations from its generally accepted public process when crafting and reviewing the document make it scientifically indefensible.524 words

Texas is critiquing EPA's draft risk assessment of the ubiquitous chemical formaldehyde, questioning the scientific basis of the agency's assessment and arguing it could lead to risk-based standards that exceed naturally-produced amounts of formaldehyde -- arguments similar to those made by industry and other regulated agencies.1036 words

Sharon Burke, DOD's first-ever director of operational energy plans and programs, met earlier this month with Army officials who presented their energy plans for the fiscal year 2012 budget.1176 words

Several industry groups are strongly criticizing EPA's proposed strict air toxics rules for boilers and incinerators as technologically unachievable and developed using a flawed and legally questionable methodology.1526 words

EPA has delayed until late October its proposal to tighten its ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS), telling a federal court that it is scrapping earlier plans to issue the final standard in August in order to give the agency more time to review public comments.396 words

Industry representatives, scientists and public-health advocates are split over whether the mortality risks associated with particulate matter (PM) are strong enough to support EPA staff's work-in-progress suggestion to Administrator Lisa Jackson to propose a tightening of the national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS).1086 words

Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter has notified Congress of a significant increase in the cost of a multibillion-dollar program established by lawmakers to destroy chemical weapons stockpiles. At the same time, Carter is reiterating previous commitments made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to back the program.770 words

A federal appellate court is weighing the extent to which EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers are required to consider the climate impacts of proposed developments when issuing wetlands fill permits, the latest effort by environmentalists to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) under the Clean Water (CWA).1252 words

A new federal appeals court ruling backs EPA's authority to designate materials as hazardous without seeking public comment, which one key waste lawyer says should serve as a warning to industry to be cautious handling materials that lack an EPA definition and treat them as hazardous until the agency issues a decision that they are not hazardous.536 words

Expected Republican gains in November's mid-term elections, which could put the party in control of one or both chambers of Congress, are likely to heighten congressional oversight of EPA and other federal agencies, although chances for the party to pass legislation that would tie the agency's hands are still seen as unlikely.1119 words

A host of local environmentalists is planning to publicly oppose Sen. Benjamin Cardin's (D-MD) bill to reauthorize EPA's Chesapeake Bay program, charging that changes the senator made to win GOP support for the bill set a bad precedent for future efforts to amend the Clean Water Act (CWA) and do little good for the Bay.590 words

EPA is proposing to require that more than a dozen states revise their Clean Air Act permitting programs to include greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions so they will be able to implement the agency's first-time GHG permitting requirements starting in January.405 words

EPA is prodding the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to conduct more rigorous analyses of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions impact of proposed new nuclear power plant construction, questioning broad statements by the NRC that the carbon profile of nuclear facilities is a "small fraction" of fossil fuel plants.1055 words

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), along with key labor and worker safety groups, are increasingly looking to use EPA's environmental statutes to bolster occupational safety, including the proposal of worker protection measures as key provisions in bills to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).1292 words

Environmentalists say EPA's new proposal for industry to report more data on the volumes and uses of chemicals in commerce is a "litmus test" for industry's commitment to reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).753 words

EPA's interim guidance on incorporating environmental justice (EJ) in agency rules is drawing praise for beginning to tackle the issue of equity, but is also drawing criticism that it is too complicated to be effective, may not lead to substantive rule changes or may go outside the normal process to give some groups more access than other stakeholders.810 words

EPA has dropped key health data from a screening tool that could be used to target enforcement efforts in environmental justice communities, saying that although health impacts could be the screening tool's most significant measure of disproportionate impacts, federal privacy laws prevent use of the data.687 words

EPA and California's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) are drafting an agreement to share data on the fate and impacts of various nanotechnologies, among other "emerging chemicals," in a move that could provide EPA with more data more quickly than it would collect under its own authority, potentially bolstering regulatory efforts.851 words

A recent Commerce Department assessment concludes that specific kinds of green technology equipment that could be used for both civilian and military purposes would likely require export licenses.215 words

Environmentalists are warning that ratifying an international waste treaty without approving a separate ban on waste exports to developing countries could worsen electronic waste (e-waste) management problems, even as congressional investigators are urging lawmakers to ratify the treaty to cut environmental and health risks.857 words