Tag: EPA

EPA is broadening the scope of its probe into PolyMet water permit

The EPA’s findings from the PolyMet case will be incorporated into a nationwide audit.

A federal watchdog agency is broadening its investigation into the handling of a key water pollution permit for PolyMet Mining’s proposed Minnesota copper-nickel mine, giving the probe national scope.

Without issuing any findings on the PolyMet case, the Inspector General of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has launched a nationwide audit of comparable water quality permits. Specifically, it will examine whether the permits adhere to federal law “based, in part,” on the Inspector General’s examination of PolyMet, which started in June. A memo announcing the move also cited additional hotline complaints that have been lodged since the one in January that launched the PolyMet inquiry.

The agency will fold its PolyMet findings into the national audit, which means it could be many months before anything is released.

View the complete September 9 article by Jennifer Bjorhus on The StarTribune website here.

Republicans Seek To Weaken Environmental Appeals Board

Republicans are trying to weaken a federal board that helps minority and low-income communities challenge how much pollution can be released in their neighborhoods by power plants and factories.

The Environmental Appeals Board would be stripped of its ability to hear appeals of EPA-issued pollution permits from citizens, states, cities and Native American tribes. Businesses that hold permits could still ask the board to allow them to increase how much pollution is released.

“These changes would allow polluters to better game the system to the detriment of public health and the environment,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

View the complete September 8 article by Sarah Okeson on the National Memo website here.

Sen. Klobuchar Statement on EPA Release of Renewable Fuel Standard Requirements

Proposal ignores small refinery waiver misuse that undermines RFS 

WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, issued the following statement on the release of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2018 and 2019 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volume requirements:

“The renewable fuel industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs throughout the country and cuts our reliance on foreign oil which is why we need the Renewable Fuel Standard to remain strong. The RFS requirements announced today by the Environmental Protection Agency maintain the ethanol volume requirements for 2019 and modestly increase the blend targets of advanced biofuels that will create jobs and strengthen rural communities.

“However, while these numbers are in line with proposed targets, increasing the volume requirements is meaningless if the EPA continues to undermine the RFS by granting small refinery waivers to multi-billion-dollar oil companies—reducing incentives for blending, slashing demand for biofuels and feedstocks, and hurting farmers and biofuels companies. This misguided overuse of the waivers by the EPA could cripple the homegrown biofuels market for years to come. I am disappointed that the EPA refused to address the misuse of small refinery waivers and restore the gallons of biofuels that have been lost due to these exemptions.”

Continue reading “Sen. Klobuchar Statement on EPA Release of Renewable Fuel Standard Requirements”

New Trump power plant plan would release hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 into the air

The following article by Juliet Eilperin was posted on the Washington Post website August 18, 2018:

Steam rises from cooling towers at the American Electric Power Co. coal-fired power plant in Winfield, W.Va., on July 18, 2018. Credit: Luke Sharrett, Bloomberg News

President Trump plans this week to unveil a proposal that would empower states to establish emission standards for coal-fired power plants rather than speeding their retirement — a major overhaul of the Obama administration’s signature climate policy. The plan, which is projected to release at least 12 times the amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere compared with the Obama rule over the next decade, comes as scientists have warned that the world will experience increasingly dire climate effects absent a major cut in carbon emissions.

Trump plans to announce the measure as soon as Tuesday during a visit to West Virginia, according to two administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House was still finalizing details Friday.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s own impact analysis, which runs nearly 300 pages, projects that the proposal would make only slight cuts to overall emissions of pollutants — including carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides — over the next decade. The Obama rule, by contrast, dwarfs those cuts by a factor of more than 12.

View the complete article here.

All of the reasons EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is under fire (as of now)

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website April 5, 2018:

On April 4, Fox News host Ed Henry pressed EPA administrator Scott Pruitt on the many recent controversies swirling around him. (Allie Caren/The Washington Post)

An emerging problem with the Trump administration is that allegations of impropriety against members of President Trump’s Cabinet can blend together. In part, that’s a function of the sheer volume of such incidents. In part, it’s a function of overlap — multiple allegations of expensive flights or expensive furniture against different people.

No one, though, has accumulated a list quite as extensive as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. In the past week, allegations have mounted at Pruitt’s feet faster than precipitation in a climate-change-fueled extreme weather event. And while this last week has been rough, the new stories have been tacked onto an existing list of concerns about Pruitt’s behavior in office. Continue reading “All of the reasons EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is under fire (as of now)”

Pruitt directed staff to approve raises for top aides: report

The following article by John Bowden was posted on the Hill website April 5, 2018:

© UPI Photo

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt instructed staff to approve raises for two top aides, The Washington Post reportedThursday, a day after the EPA chief implied he wasn’t involved in the decisions.

The Post cites two EPA officials and one White House official who say that Pruitt instructed his staff members to approve the raises for two aides who had previously served under him in Oklahoma, though did not personally carry out the raises.

The news comes after Pruitt told Fox News in an interview that he had “learned” of the raises and taken steps to find out “how it took place.”

Continue reading “Pruitt directed staff to approve raises for top aides: report”

A swamp monster is running the EPA

The following commentary from its Editorial Board was posted on the Washington Post website April 2, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is facing scrutiny for a condo rental agreement linked to a fossil fuel lobbyist in D.C. (Reuters)

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Administrator Scott Pruitt’s ethics were already in question after he wasted taxpayer money on expensive plane tickets and hotels, a story he tried to rebut, misleadingly, on conservative talk radio last week. Then, last Thursday, ABC News reportedthat he benefited from a sweetheart deal that allowed him to live in a high-rent area of Washington while paying a relative pittance. His landlord? The wife of an energy and environmental lobbyist.

EPA officials tried to bury the story in official releases from ethics officers in the general counsel’s office, arguing that Mr. Pruitt paid rent for his single bedroom in a Capitol Hill condo. According to Bloomberg News, these officials did not review the administrator’s living arrangements in advance. Their after-the-fact defense of their boss is unpersuasive. Continue reading “A swamp monster is running the EPA”

Christie on Pruitt controversy: ‘I don’t know how you survive this one’

The following article by Brett Samuels was posted on the Hill website April 1, 2018:

Former NJ Gov. Chris Christie on This Week Credit: Screen Grab

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Sunday expressed skepticism that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt will keep his job in the wake of a scandal over his living arrangement in Washington, D.C.

ABC News reported last week that Pruit rented a bedroom in a Capitol Hill condo that is co-owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist.

“If Mr. Pruitt’s going to go, it’s because he never should have been there in the first place,” Christie said on ABC’s “This Week.” Continue reading “Christie on Pruitt controversy: ‘I don’t know how you survive this one’”

Scott Pruitt, E.P.A. Chief, Rented Residence From Wife of Energy Lobbyist

The following article by Brad Plumer and Eric Lipton was posted on the New York Times website March 30, 2018:

Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, has been the subject of questions from the House Oversight Committee about his travel expenses. Credit: Doug Mills/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, rented a residence in Washington in 2017 that was partly owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist whose firm, according to disclosure forms, conducted business before the E.P.A. that same year.

While the agency said on Friday that the arrangement was consistent with federal ethics rules, the developments come as Mr. Pruitt is already under fire from Congress regarding unrelated ethics questions. In February, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee ordered Mr. Pruitt to turn over documents related to his first-class travel at taxpayer expense, questioning whether he had received the appropriate waivers to do so. Continue reading “Scott Pruitt, E.P.A. Chief, Rented Residence From Wife of Energy Lobbyist”

Trump officials prepare to undo fuel-efficiency targets despite some automakers’ misgivings

The following article by Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis was posted on the Washington Post website March 29, 2018:

Fuel-efficiency standards that automakers must meet by 2025 for cars and light trucks soon could be rolled back by the Trump administration. Credit: Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post

Top Trump administration officials are engaged in a heated debate over how to undo federal fuel-efficiency targets for cars and light trucks, as manufacturers voice concern that a major rollback of an Obama-era rule could go too far and fracture the nation’s auto market.

The internal negotiations over relaxing carbon-emissions limits for cars and SUVs slated to be sold in model years 2022 to 2025 underscore the challenge officials face in trying to fulfill President Trump’s 2017 promise to ease the regulatory burden on Detroit.

Some of the same companies that had pressed for action worry that they will be forced to comply with two standards: the stricter specifications that California imposes on its massive auto market and a separate requirement for the rest of the country. Continue reading “Trump officials prepare to undo fuel-efficiency targets despite some automakers’ misgivings”