EPA is proposing to allow operators of coal ash disposal facilities that lack protective “composite” liners to keep operating if they can demonstrate that there is still “no reasonable probability” of significant groundwater contamination, softening a blanket ban on unlined waste sites that it proposed in late 2019 under an appellate court order.
The Office of Inspector General had previously been investigating EPA’s oversight of groups that received Clean Air Act funding, but it will now look into groups that receive any agency funds.
The agency’s two-month delay in publishing the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act permit proposal also means a planned public hearing on the rule is delayed until April.
EPA in a new court filing argues that its regulatory change to Obama-era landfill methane standards -- punting compliance deadlines for years -- is essentially the same as a new statute passed by Congress in forcing a lower court to amend a final judgment requiring the agency to complete a federal plan for the rules.
Michael Dourson, a former nominee to lead the Trump EPA’s toxics office, is suggesting a key public-private sector group launch an effort to resolve international differences on health risks from one of the most studied perfluorinated chemicals, an effort that could produce a weaker risk level to undermine some states’ stricter values.
EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB) has accepted a charge from the Office of Policy on ways to increase private investment in opportunity zones and is considering possible charges on other topics.
Thirty Senate Democrats are expressing disappointment that many commitments in year-old EPA’s PFAS action plan “remain unfulfilled,” including drinking water and waste regulatory determinations for key chemicals.
Responding to regulatory uncertainty, insurers have begun excluding coverage for both actual and potential contamination stemming from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a move that is killing transactions and can affect a wide array of industry sectors, according to an attorney who spoke at a recent environmental legal forum.
EPA’s waste chief says his office is wrestling with how its Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) program adheres to limits on use of guidance documents imposed by President Donald Trump’s recent orders given the program’s long reliance on guidance, particularly letters responding to industry and other parties explaining policy.
