Latest Violations of environmental law News

Biden administration holding its first onshore oil sales
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. government this week is holding its first onshore oil and natural gas drilling lease auctions since President Joe Biden took office after a federal court blocked the administration’s attempt to suspend such sales because of climate change worries. ...

Conservationists call for action on Northwest wolf poaching
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Wildlife advocates say there has been a distressing uptick in wolf poaching cases in the Northwest in the past year and a half. Four dead wolves were discovered in the northeastern corner of Washington state in February. That followed the poisoning of eight...

Federal agencies reverse Trump limits on habitat protection
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday withdrew a rule adopted under former President Donald Trump that limited which lands and waters could be designated as places where imperiled animals and plants could receive federal protection. A definition of...

Dredging company to pay $1M for restoration work oil spill
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Houston dredging company has been ordered to pay a $1 million fine for an oil spill that occurred when a subcontractor cut through an oil pipeline during barrier island restoration work off Louisiana in 2016. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, which...
Editorial Roundup: Texas
Dallas Morning News. June 18, 2022. Editorial: Texas must protect its mountain lions and ban footholds “There’s a mountain lion somewhere right now stuck in a trap.” A group of landowners and biologists is lobbying the Texas Parks and Wildlife...
Editorial Roundup: Florida
Palm Beach Post. June 12, 2022. Editorial: Better data from Florida essential for pandemic control It didn’t take an audit by the Florida Auditor General to confirm what many of us suspected all along: Florida’s COVID-19 pandemic data was, and most likely remains,...
Hawaii ex-lawmaker gets new sentencing date in bribery case
HONOLULU (AP) — A judge has set a new sentencing date for former Hawaii state Rep. Ty Cullen, who earlier this year pleaded guilty to one count in connection with his acceptance of bribes when he was a lawmaker. He’s now due to be sentenced on Oct. 20 instead of July 5. Cullen's...

EPA moves to give states, tribes more power to protect water
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday proposed undoing a Trump-era rule that limited the power of states and Native American tribes to block energy projects like natural gas pipelines based on their potential to pollute rivers and streams. The Clean Water Act...

California fisherman sued in 'egregious' crabbing case
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California fisherman illegally caught hundreds of Dungeness crabs in the protected North Farallon Islands State Marine Reserve, according to a lawsuit filed last week by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office. State Department of Fish and Wildlife...

A look at big US legal settlements amid Surfside's $1B deal
The proposed settlement of more than $1 billion as compensation for the 98 people who died in a Florida condominium collapse is far from the largest in U.S. history. Even adding in the $96 million proposed for property owners in the Champlain Towers South disaster wouldn't bring it...
