Latest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency News

Why is it so smoky outside? Canada wildfires lead to air-quality alerts in northeastern US

Jun. 06, 2023 21:54 PM EDT

Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. The effects of hundreds of wildfires burning across the western provinces to Quebec...

Federal appeals court halts EPA effort to impose air pollution plan in Missouri

Jun. 01, 2023 11:56 AM EDT

A federal appeals court has put on hold an Environmental Protection Agency regulation aimed at reducing air pollution in Missouri, drawing criticism from environmentalists but praise from the state's attorney general who called the proposal “unconstitutional overreach.” ...

Supreme Court limits regulation of some US wetlands, making it easier to develop and destroy them

May. 26, 2023 00:26 AM EDT

The U.S. Supreme Court has stripped federal agencies of authority over millions of acres of wetlands, weakening a bedrock environmental law enacted a half-century ago to cleanse the country’s badly polluted waters. A 5-4 majority significantly expanded the ability of farmers,...

Federal appeals court stays EPA's rejection of Arkansas' ozone plan

May. 25, 2023 19:49 PM EDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday halted the Environmental Protection Agency’s rejection of Arkansas' plan to comply with federal rules designed to assure that the state’s coal-fired power plants and industrial sites don’t pollute the air in other states. ...

Supreme Court sharply limits federal government's ability to police pollution into certain wetlands

May. 25, 2023 16:40 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday sharply limited the federal government's authority to police water pollution into certain wetlands, the second decision in as many years in which a conservative majority narrowed the reach of environmental regulations. The outcome...

Flying drones and chasing data, Indigenous women in Guyana join fight against climate change

May. 25, 2023 00:22 AM EDT

RUBY VILLAGE, Guyana (AP) — A small group of Indigenous women in northern Guyana are the latest weapon in the fight against climate change in this South American country where 90% of the population lives below sea level. Armed with drones, the women are scanning mangrove forests...

ExxonMobil appeals ruling by Guyanese court in oil spill insurance coverage

May. 19, 2023 18:46 PM EDT

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — American oil giant ExxonMobil said Friday it had appealed a recent Guyanese court ruling requiring it to obtain insurance for “unlimited liability” in the event of a major oil spill off the coast of Guyana. The company said in a statement that the...

Biden administration invests in carbon capture, upping pressure on industry to show results

May. 17, 2023 23:12 PM EDT

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced $251 million for carbon capture and storage projects in seven states, aiming to reduce planet-warming pollution from power plants and other industrial facilities. The announcement represents a vote of confidence by the government in the...

EPA rule would force clean-up of toxic coal ash dumped in landfills, ponds near power plants

May. 17, 2023 17:35 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening a rule aimed at controlling and cleaning up toxic waste from coal-fired power plants. A proposal announced Wednesday would for the first time require safe management of so-called coal ash dumped in hundreds of older landfills,...

BP subsidiary agrees to record $40M penalty and pollution-cutting steps at Lake Michigan refinery

May. 17, 2023 16:02 PM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — A BP subsidiary will pay a $40 million penalty and install technology to control releases of benzene and other contaminants at its Whiting oil refinery on the Indiana shoreline of Lake Michigan, Biden administration officials said Wednesday. ...