Latest U.S. Environmental Protection Agency News

Shelter in place lifted after fire at Michigan paper mill produces plumes of heavy smoke

Sep. 14, 2023 17:37 PM EDT

CHEBOYGAN, Mich. (AP) — People living near a northern Michigan paper mill that caught fire, filling the air with thick grey smoke, emerged from their homes Thursday after sheltering in place for more than a day, as environmental officials found the local air quality had improved to safe levels. ...

Biden's clean-car rules face a crucial test as appeals court hears Republican-led challenges

Sep. 14, 2023 16:58 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Efforts by the Biden administration to limit pollution from automobile tailpipes — a major source of planet-warming emissions — face a crucial test as a federal appeals court considers legal challenges brought by Republican-led states. The U.S. Court of...

Biden administration restores the power of states and tribes to review projects to protect waterways

Sep. 14, 2023 14:59 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — States and Native American tribes will have greater authority to block energy projects such as natural gas pipelines that could pollute rivers and streams under a final rule issued Thursday by the Biden administration. The rule, which takes effect in November,...

Groups sue EPA in an effort to strengthen oversight of livestock operations

Sep. 11, 2023 17:02 PM EDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A coalition of environmental groups is seeking to force the Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen its regulation of large livestock operations that release pollutants into waterways. Food & Water Watch and a dozen other environmental and...

EPA staff slow to report health risks from lead-tainted Benton Harbor water, report states

Sep. 07, 2023 14:50 PM EDT

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Health risks due to high lead levels in drinking water in a majority Black and impoverished Michigan city were not taken quickly to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leadership, according to a report released Thursday. The EPA Office of Inspector...

Shuttered EPA investigation could’ve brought 'meaningful reform' in Cancer Alley, documents show

Sep. 06, 2023 10:56 AM EDT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As industrial plants have overtaken historic Black communities and burdened neighborhoods with toxic air pollution, environmental advocates and residents of Louisiana’s chemical corridor have spent decades calling for change. So when the country’s top...

Environmental Protection Agency delays new ozone pollution standards until after the 2024 election

Sep. 06, 2023 06:07 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is delaying plans to tighten air quality standards for ground-level ozone — better known as smog — despite a recommendation by a scientific advisory panel to lower air pollution limits to protect public health. The decision...

Editorial Roundup: Ohio

Sep. 04, 2023 13:24 PM EDT

Cleveland Plain Dealer. September 1, 2023. Editorial: Why isn’t Ohio’s congressional delegation raising Cain over state’s fumble of toxic algae plan? A lot is at stake in Ohio’s efforts to reduce the phosphorus runoff that, year after year, feeds the sickly...

Memphis plant that uses potentially hazardous chemical will close, company says

Aug. 30, 2023 18:32 PM EDT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A medical equipment sterilizing plant that uses a chemical whose emissions could lead to cancer and other health risks says it plans to close its Tennessee location by next spring, according to a letter sent by the company to U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen. In the July...

Unclear how many in Lahaina lost lives as Hawaii authorities near the end of their search for dead

Aug. 29, 2023 23:54 PM EDT

HONOLULU (AP) — Crews in Hawaii have all but finished searching for victims of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, authorities said Tuesday, and it is unclear how many people perished. Three weeks after the fire devastated Maui’s historic seaside community of...