U.S. Environmental Protection Agency News

State air regulators are calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to approve a more protective strategy for measuring and enforcing ozone levels in Central and Southern California.

The California Air Resources Board says the agency wants to scrap its current plan of measuring ozone levels over one hour in favor of measuring levels over eight hours.

Officials say federal approval would allow them to enforce the new plan and offer greater protections to the public against chronic health problems from daylong exposure to ozone. Read more

“There was an extraordinary degree of aggressiveness by EPA in pressing states to abandon a more protective mercury program. EPA devoted enormous effort to preventing states from doing more”

While arguing in court that states are free to enact tougher mercury controls from power plants, the Bush administration pressured dozens of states to accept a scheme that would let some plants evade cleaning up their pollution, government documents show.

A week ago, a federal appeals court struck down that industry-friendly approach for mercury reduction. It allowed plants with excessive smokestack emissions to buy pollution rights from other plants that foul the air less.

Internal Environmental Protection Agency documents and e-mails, obtained by the advocacy group Environmental Defense, show attempts over the past two years to blunt state efforts to make their plants drastically reduce mercury pollution instead of trading for credits that would let them continue it. Read more

“We can't afford to give special interests more opportunities to weaken the rules, and children with asthma can't afford to wait”

Diesel pollution spewed from the world's largest ships is increasing in U.S. ports and coastal areas even as regulators rein in car and truck emissions.

Some members of Congress and local regulators are demanding that the Bush administration quickly curtail the ship pollutants to protect health instead of waiting for other countries to agree to take action.

The Environmental Protection Agency decided to hold off on its own rules for oceangoing vessels while trying to push its standards through the U.N. International Maritime Organization. After that body acts, EPA plans to issue its regulations next year. Read more

“We don't know if that's going to be as good as we would like. Hence the purpose of this collaboration is to test this out.”

WASHINGTON : Lab rats may one day get a reprieve. The U.S. government is studying a major overhaul of how to test the safety of chemicals, from household cleaners to pesticides. via International Herald Tribune

“The fundamental role we'll play here is ensuring that these permits do meet the requirements of the Clear Air Act and that public health is being protected”

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama and two of his Illinois colleagues are urging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to mount a "comprehensive" review of proposed air and construction ... via The Times

“We're seeing what's going on in the Rocky Mountain West now. We're on a crash course with some pretty serious air-quality problems”

An environmental group seeking stricter air-pollution controls on Colorado's growing natural gas industry is praising a federal order it hopes will "ripple through the Rocky Mountain West." The Environmental ... via Summit Daily News

“I think the report raises really interesting questions about chronic long-term health effects to environmental exposure”

Milwaukee County residents may have a greater risk of health problems such as low birth weight, stroke and coronary heart disease as a result of environmental toxins, according to a new federal report. via Today's TMJ4

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Environmental Protection Agency has approved new water quality standards for Iowa. via Quad-City Times

“Those who support keeping carbofuran on the market are stating their clear indifference to conserving wildlife and to exposing workers to toxins”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is under pressure from a pesticide manufacturer and members of Congress to reverse an August 30, 2006 decision to cancel the registration of all uses of the highly toxic ... via WaterWorld

Tribes of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation want to take the federal government's place in regulating a type of well associated with oil and natural gas projects on the northeastern Montana reservation. via Independent Record

“I do not believe that it has happened in the rest of the country”

Reported by: EastValleyTribune.com Last Update: 2/07 11:42 pm Two recent drinking water contamination scares that affected Scottsdale and Paradise Valley customers were unprecedented in Arizona, and possibly ... via ABC15.com

“EPA is using its programs, authorities, and grants to enhance the islands' response programs. This will improve the environment of the Pacific Islands.”

THE U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hawaii Department of Health are hosting a meeting of environmental officials from the Pacific territories to improve Pacific Island environmental response ... via Marianas Variety

“We believe the law requires those, given the significant threat CO2 poses to climate and global warming”

State regulators have refused environmentalists' requests to limit carbon dioxide emissions from a proposed coal-fired power plant in southeast Ohio. via Canadian Business Magazine

“This dilemma started 100 years ago with [copper king] Marcus Daly, the miner's miner”

An agreement between the state and Atlantic Richfield Co. signals the end of a 25-year-old lawsuit over environmental damage caused by a century of mining in southwestern Montana. via Daily Herald

A federal appeals court struck down a Bush administration policy exempting power plants from certain environmental regulations. The court said the policy was unlawful.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit negated a rule known as cap-and-trade. That policy allows power plants that fail to meet emission targets to buy credits from plants that did, rather than having to install their own mercury emissions controls. The rule was to go into effect in 2010.

The court struck down the cap-and-trade policy and the Environmental Protection Administration's plan to exempt coal- and oil-fired power plants from regulations requiring strict emissions control technology to block emissions. Read more

“This is, in my opinion, a disservice to the citizens of the Bay Area and, therefore, unacceptable”

California's top environmental official has called for an independent investigation of the agency that regulates San Francisco Bay Area water pollution after the botched response by Marin County officials to ... via ScrippsNews

More... More... Troy company pays $110,000 in EPA deal By Steve Bennish TROY -- Tekni-Plex, Inc. via Dayton Daily News

The Environmental Protection Agency is recommending fines be imposed against Greka Oil and Gas Company for failing to clean-up and prevent oil spills at its facilities in Santa Barbara County. via KCOY-TV Santa Maria

THE Guam Environmental Protection Agency board of directors has extended the agency's air emission fee amnesty program. via Marianas Variety