State officials fear EPA is delaying a pending emissions proposal to set a mercury limit for electric arc furnaces (EAF) that recycle scrap steel from automobiles and other sources, noting the agency has missed previous self-imposed deadlines and that the rule appears to be a “low priority” in EPA’s legal office that vets new rulemakings.

EPA’s proposal to revise its decades-old air toxics rule for the pulp and paper industry is drawing broad attacks, with environmentalists arguing that the standard is too weak to mitigate health risks from the sector while industry argues the agency erred by using outdated and criticized data on formaldehyde to justify tightening limits on the air toxic.

EPA has withdrawn its strict interim cleanup targets for dioxin-contaminated soils from White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) review, a fresh delay for the already-stalled goals that is likely to rile activists who urged OMB to complete its review in order to ensure adequate dioxin cleanups by states and federal agencies.

EPA has won industry's approval to again extend -- by 30 days -- a deadline in a settlement agreement with industry for amending its permitting policies for hydraulic fracturing operations using diesel fuels, with sources suggesting the delay could be due to EPA's struggles in how to define “diesel fuel” in a planned guidance on the policies.

EPA is weighing whether to revise, retain or drop a controversial 2010 draft memorandum that encouraged regulators to use stormwater "flow" as a surrogate for other pollutants when crafting permits and other discharge control requirements -- rather than voluntary best management practices (BMPs) -- which industry warned was unlawful.

EPA's environmental justice advisers are calling on the agency to use Clean Air Act authority to mandate that water treatment plants and other facilities housing dangerous chemicals use “inherently safer technology” (IST) to reduce risks from the chemicals, a new strategy for IST advocates given the failure of legislation to mandate IST.

A panel of EPA advisers has signed off on its long awaited recommendations on how the agency can improve its scientific work that influences agency decisions, despite concerns from some advisers who noted that the report's conclusions could be taken out of context and used unfairly by agency critics against EPA science.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is urging Congress to reinstate a broadly construed exemption from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that had allowed agencies to withhold environmental and other data that could be used to circumvent legal requirements, an exemption that the high court significantly pared back in a landmark ruling last year.

Environmentalists fear that EPA appears increasingly likely to either soften or drop its proposal to mandate “green completion” emissions controls at new hydraulic fracturing operations and other drilling sites in pending air rules for the sector, with EPA facing major industry pressure to soften the controls ahead of the rule's imminent release.

State officials and biofuel advocates say EPA might delay its “Tier III” fuel and vehicle rule until after the November election, saying the Obama administration could stall the rule to try and avoid until after the election new controversies over an agency regulation that Republicans, industry and others argue will exacerbate rising gas prices.

EPA is seeking input from its Science Advisory Board (SAB) in how to craft a major study to improve its estimates of the potential economic costs of regulations, citing problems assessing the costs of existing rules that often lead to overstating the compliance costs for industry and uncertainty over how to assess some industry costs.

EPA may face new limits on its statutory powers if the Supreme Court later this year overturns President Obama's health law -- in particular its mandate that individuals purchase health insurance -- as unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause, as many environmental laws that EPA implements are based on the same constitutional grounding.

States are urging EPA to retain its flexible method for protecting beaches and other recreational waters from bacteria, charging that an agency proposal to eliminate the approach will limit states' ability to set scientifically defensible water quality standards (WQS), and could ultimately result in a greater number of impaired waters listings.

Budget constraints hitting the Department of Energy (DOE) will force it in the next several months to pursue talks with state regulators to stretch out time lines under enforceable agreements for accomplishing its nuclear waste cleanups in fiscal year 2014 and beyond. A top DOE official says the department will lack the funds to meet existing, enforceable cleanup milestones after FY13.

EPA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are grappling with key questions about potential risks for seismicity, or earthquakes, as a result of underground disposal of the large volumes of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing, part of ongoing research that could shape any changes to how EPA regulates oil and gas wastewater injections.

Senate efforts to build Democratic support for legislation shaping EPA's pending coal ash disposal regulations are centering on whether to give states primary enforcement authority for ash rules at wet impoundments, sources say, though comments from Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) suggest that the bill may be on the back burner before the election.

Environmentalists have followed through on their threat to sue EPA to force a hard legal deadline for the agency to issue “as soon as possible” a long-stalled coal combustion residuals (CCRs) disposal rule, arguing EPA is ignoring a Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) mandate to periodically review and revise its waste rules.

EPA's proposed new source performance standard (NSPS) to significantly limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from new coal-fired power plants is prompting some utility industry sources to call for the revival of legislation to create a cap-and-trade program for CO2 that would override EPA's rule, though there appears to be no hope Congress will soon take up such a plan.

Developers of coal-fired power plants are hedging on whether they will be able to qualify for EPA's proposed exemption for more than a dozen "transitional" coal plants from having to meet the agency's proposed climate new source performance standard (NSPS) for power plants if project construction begins by early next year.

EPA is poised to release next week a guidance on best practices to encourage states to quickly disburse and spend water state revolving loan funds (SRFs) in a bid to try and fend off agency budget cuts from Republicans who argue that the large amount of unspent SRF funds in many states justifies further reductions in EPA's funding.