EPA's stalled draft assessment of the human health risks of formaldehyde, reported to reiterate conclusions that exposure to the ubiquitous substance can cause leukemia, poses significant liability for industry in stricter regulatory standards and legal settlements, underscoring their efforts to influence any assessment's final conclusions.

EPA is asking a federal appeals court to remand several provisions of its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule for evaluating the risks of existing chemicals so that it can revise them, but is defending the rest of the policy, arguing that Congress gave the agency broad discretion in how to craft rules under the revised TSCA.

Environmentalists are threatening to sue EPA to force development of a binding rule setting minimum standards for public participation in state coal permit programs governing ash disposal, claiming that the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) gives the agency no discretion in the matter and a 2017 guidance is not sufficient.

EPA is shifting its focus from the multiple delays of Obama-era rules it has already issued to crafting substantive regulations rolling back those standards, which supporters and critics of the agency alike say will add to the "pressure" acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler faces in quickly crafting rollbacks that can withstand judicial review.

William Reilly, who served as EPA administrator during the George H.W. Bush administration, is urging Andrew Wheeler, the agency's new acting chief, to advance an affirmative environmental agenda rather than a continued focus on regulatory rollbacks, but he is also indicating that he does not expect Wheeler to wholeheartedly embrace that advice.

The Senate has approved a "minibus" fiscal year 2019 spending bill that largely maintains EPA's existing funding level, teeing up a fight with the House that has already approved an FY19 measure to cut funding for the agency's budget by between $100 million and half a billion dollars, depending on which programs are counted as base EPA funding.

The National Academies (NA) is launching an ambitious and rare joint initiative aimed at addressing the fragmented approach that policymakers -- and the academies -- have long taken to address environmental health issues in an effort aimed at developing a more interdisciplinary approach.

Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has issued his "fishbowl memo" principles for transparency in the agency's contact with the public, including rulemakings, litigation, responses to oversight requests and document releases, including several principles that echo a similar memo from Obama EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.