A group representing industry parties subject to EPA waste rules is urging the agency to rescind or revise various components of its Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) program and to significantly pare back its RCRA corrective action program, urging the agency to shift a host of manufacturing sites currently regulated under an "interim" status by the program to Superfund or state cleanups.

An industry-standard setting organization is suggesting to EPA that its voluntary, consensus-developed standards may help fill a gap by providing standards for compliance as EPA embarks on fulfilling the Trump administration's directive to repeal, revise or replace regulations considered burdensome to the regulated community.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's recent action to move final decisionmaking authority for high-cost Superfund cleanup decisions from regional offices to his office is receiving mixed reviews from environmentalists, industry and former agency officials, with most sources interpreting the move as an attempt to rein in costly mega-site sediment and mining cleanups.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is touting his plans to rejuvenate the Superfund program by tackling the 1,300 sites on the National Priorities List (NPL) even as his recent announcement to centralize final decision-making for costly cleanups sites in the administrator's office is drawing mixed reviews.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit has struck down a pair of Puerto Rico municipal ordinances barring coal ash disposal that industry feared could become a model for local governments elsewhere, but on a narrow basis that avoids deciding whether such restrictions are preempted by the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA).

Duke Energy is suing an environmentalist group in a bid to head off a threatened Clean Water Act (CWA) suit over groundwater contamination at a North Carolina power plant that the group claims is polluting surface waters, a move the environmentalists say is improper and meant to avoid litigation in a court that has already upheld similar claims.

Environmental groups are laying out early legal arguments that could be used to challenge the merits and legality of the Trump administration's process for identifying EPA rules to target for "repeal, replacement or modification," arguing the plan does not take into account statutory requirements to protect public health and provides little meaningful opportunity for public comment.

Groups representing major industries are stepping up their efforts to win over reluctant Senate Democrats to support pending legislation to overhaul the federal regulatory review process, though the effort is facing hurdles as many Democrats and allied groups strongly oppose the bill.

New Mexico's congressional delegation is urging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to investigate new avenues for paying damages to individuals and groups who were harmed by the 2015 Gold King Mine wastewater spill, calling the Obama administration's denial of tort claims from the spill a "broken promise."

Environmental and labor groups are urging a federal court in New Jersey to compel state and local officials to publicly disclose industrial facility emergency response plans (ERPs) in a lawsuit industry attorneys say highlights the need for the Trump EPA's plan to revise an Obama administration facility safety rule though it could bolster efforts to preserve the rule.

West Virginia has settled a pair of lawsuits with environmentalists, agreeing to a cleanup schedule for treating discharges from seven forfeited mining sites the state inherited from bankrupt coal mining companies while ending suits that environmentalists said highlights states' inadequate preparation addressing the cleanup needs of bankrupted firms.

EPA's process for selecting new members for two of its congressionally mandated scientific advisory committees is behind schedule this year, heightening observers' concerns over the Trump administration's approach to scientific reviews after recent reports that the agency delayed acting on a process for selecting members for a third panel.

Environmentalists and advocates for protections against lead poisoning are urging EPA to uphold or strengthen lead rules, as well as reverse proposed budget cuts for lead programs, as the agency in undertaking a major regulatory reform initiative considers whether to revise or rescind lead protection rules.