EPA RULES, INVESTIGATIONS AND RELATED ACTION

EPA Coal Rules Upheld by Appeals Court
In a stunning rebuke to Texas and other states, a federal appeals court on April 15, 2014 rejected states' challenge to Environmental Protection Agency's authority to write strict rules limiting emission of mercury, chromium, arsenic, acid gases, nickel, cadmiums and other harmful chemicals from coal- and oil-fired power plants. In 2000, EPA's determined that it had authority under the Clean Air Act to control emission standards for mercury and other chemicals emitted from the power plants. In 2012, EPA re-affirmed its determination, triggering Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to file a lawsuit.

***************************** MERCURY STANDARD *****************************
Supreme Court Hands Obama Victory on Mercury Emissions for Coal Plants
The U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on March 3, 2016 rejected even to consider a motion filed by Texas and 19 other states to put a hold on EPA's rules on limiting emission of mercury, chromium, arsenic, acid gases, nickel, cadmiums and other harmful chemicals from coal- and oil-fired power plants. Roberts' refusal to refer the appeal to full court came weeks after February 9, 2016, Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling to put a hold on Obama administration's Clean Power Plan. Currently, EPA is carrying out a cost-benefit assessment of the implication of EPA's rules on limiting emission of mercury, chromium, arsenic, acid gases, nickel, cadmiums and other harmful chemicals from coal- and oil-fired power plants. 20 states went to U.S. Supreme Court after failing to get any reprieve from the lower courts to put a hold on the rules in the interim, and Justice Roberts refused to oblige them.

Trump Administration's EPA Takes a Stab at Obama-era Mercury Rules
Environmental Protection Agency on December 27, 2018 published an expansive set of rules, reversing the course of tightening mercury standards that Obama-era EPA had passed in 2011. Those standards, known as Mercury and Air Toxic Standards, had led to $18 billion in clean-up and other efforts by the nation's coal-fired utilities. EPA's acting administrator, Andrew Wheeler, is a longtime champion of coal industry and utilities. Now, public will have 60 days to comment before the rules go into effect. Obama administration used "co-benefit" methodology as part of the cost-benefit analysis and included the effect of particulate matters while estimating the adverse impact of mercury on human health as often those particulate matters are associated with emissions of mercury from smokestacks. According to Obama administration estimate, at least 11,000 premature deaths would have been avoided by implementing the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards. Mercury is a neurotoxin, and can harm brain and nervous system in young children.
***************************** MERCURY STANDARD *****************************

********************* OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S CLEAN POWER PLAN **********
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy on September 20, 2013 issued new carbon limit rules for the new power plants.

* CO2 emissions from the gas-fired power plants will be limited to 1,000 pounds per megawatt-hour of power generated

* CO2 emissions from the coal-fired power plants will be limited to 1,100 pounds per megawatt-hour of power generated

In June 2014, EPA will issue the CO2 emissions rule for the existing power plants.

Obama's Carbon Footprint
On June 3, 2014, Obama administration issued its draft proposal on carbon dioxide emission from nation's power plants that have potential to alter the future energy landscape. The draft rule, also known as the Clean Power Plan, calls for reduction of carbon emissions from power plants by 30 percent nationwide by 2030 below 2005 levels. However, different states have different targets, and there is flexibility on how states arrive at their target goals as long as those goals are met by 2030.

ERCOT's Concern over EPA's Clean Power Plan
Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, on November 17, 2014 released the first version of its response to the EPA's Clean Power Plan issued on June 3, 2014 that called for almost 38 percent reduction in Texas' emissions by 2030. The ERCOT report voiced concern over the power reliability that might be caused by possible coal plant shutdowns.

Final Rules for Power Plants Unveiled
In a campaign style boisterous mood at the White House surrounded by a friendly audience and live-streamed on YouTube, President Barack Obama on August 3, 2015 marked the official unveiling of the 1,560-page Clean Power Plan that drew cheers from progressives and condemnation and threat of lawsuits from conservatives. The final rule increases the threshold of carbon emission reduction from coal-fired power plants to 32 percent, from the draft plan of 30 percent made public in June 2014, by 2030 compared to the 2005 level. However, the final rule gives states up to 2018 to come up with and submit a plan. The states are required to start meeting goals by 2022 , an additional two years compared to the preliminary rules issued in June 2014, and be fully compliant by 2030. The states are also given freehand and leeway to devise plan on reducing the carbon emission, ranging from focusing on renewable energy, starting a cap-and-trade system for exchanging carbon credits and emphasizing on retrofitting older coal-fired power plants. However, the political atmosphere now is so vitiated and vitriolic that it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when, the avalanche of lawsuits against the rule will be filed. To add fuel to the fire, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, wrote letters to all state governors in March 2015 to ignore Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.

States Request Supreme Court to Rein in the Administration
A coalition of 25 states, including Texas, on January 26, 2016 filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to put a hold on Obama administration's Clean Power Plan as its merit was being considered by the court. An appeals court in Washington D.C. denied a similar request last week.

Supreme Court Puts a Hold on Administration's Clean Power Plan
A divided Supreme Court on February 9, 2016 ruled by 5-4 vote ordering Obama administration to put a hold on any further action related to Clean Power Plan, giving a temporary victory to a coalition of 27 states, mostly Republican ruled, and coal power plant operators. What's most disconcerting to the administration and environmental groups is that the five justices of the U.S. Supreme Court may have thought that there is reasonable chance that the plan will be rejected by the court. A federal appeals court in Washington refused last month to put a hold on the implementation of the Clean Power Plan as a hearing before the appellate court would begin on June 2, 2016. Under the Clean Power Plan,
* States are to submit their respective plan to EPA by September 2016, or seek an extension
* Compliance is not required until 2022

EPA Scuttles Clean Power Plan
Saying that the war on coal was over, EPA chief Scott Pruitt used a coal town in Kentucky as a backdrop on October 9, 2017 to announce that he would roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan that was aimed as a tool as reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal Register will publish new rules to this effect on October 10, 2017.

Looser Coal Power Plan Draft Reported
The New York Times reported on July 5, 2018 that Trump administration had a draft, to be published soon, ready to ease the requirements enshrined as part of the Obama era's Clean Power Plan.

21 States Sue Trump Administration over Coal Rules
In June 2019, Trump administration replaced Clean Power Plan with its own rules that gave plenty of rooms and leeway for the states to formulate their own plans to cut down the carbon emissions from the coal-fired power plants, diluting one of the most transformative environmental policies of Obama administration. On August 13, 2019, 21 mostly Democratic-run states filed a lawsuit at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to block the Trump administration's new rules that went into effect in June 2019.

U.S. Supreme Court Curbs EPA's Authority in Carbon Emissions

U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 2022 ruled 6-3 against the EPA's authority to cut carbon footprint and imprimatur from the nation's coal plants. Writing for the majority, Justice John Roberts said that, although laudable, EPA's action to rein in carbon emissions from the nation's coal-fired power plants without the explicit approval from Congress was tantamount to exceeding the authority granted to it by the legislative branch of the government. 

Expansive Rule to Cut Carbon Emissions from Power Plants

As part of Biden administration's ambitious goal of eliminating carbon footprint from the electricity sector by 2035 and the overall economy by 2050, Biden administration on April 25, 2024 unveiled one of the most expansive rules to cut the carbon emissions. As per the rule that encompasses around four measures: 

* Coal-fired power plants which want to operate beyond 2039 have to capture or cut 90% of smoke-stack emissions by 2032

* Coal-fired powerplants scheduled to retire by 2039 are required to cut or capture some degree--not as stringent as 90%--of smoke-stack emissions by 2032

* Coal-fired powerplants scheduled to shutter by 2032 are not under the aegis of the rule

* New powerplants fueled by coal or natural gas are required to reduce (through cutting or capturing) 90% of carbon pollution

* Coal-fired powerplants are required to reduce the wastewater pollutants

* Coal-fired powerplants are required to safely manage coal ash in unlined storage ponds

The rule unveiled on April 25, 2024 by Michael Regan's EPA will cut emissions 1.38 billion metric tons of carbon emissions by 2047, an annual equivalent to taking out 328 million tailpipe emission cars from America's roads. 

Biden administration has taken several significant incremental steps like the ones unveiled on April 25, 2024 through the rulemaking process as well as legislative measure like Inflation Reduction Act to achieve the the goal of Net Zero by mid-century. Republican states as well as power industry groups are sure to file lawsuits against the newest rule. EPA Administrator Michael Regan refrained from unveiling rules related to natural gas-fired powerplants until next year although his initial proposal last year included those plants too. 
********************* OBAMA ADMINISTRATION'S CLEAN POWER PLAN **********

********************* EPA VS. STATES IN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT **************
Supreme Court Upholds EPA's Authority to Regulate Greenhouse Gas
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2014 ruled in a 7-2 majority that EPA retained the powers to regulate greenhouse gases. The ruling in essence upheld the apex court's 2007 verdict that EPA could consider greenhouse gases to be pollutants under the Clean Air Act if they contributed to the climate change. The standout judges were Judge Samuel Alito and Judge Clarence Thomas. However, in a separate, but related, ruling (5-4), the court also made it clear that the EPA couldn't use the authority to make the permitting process stricter.
Background of the U.S. Supreme Court Ruling
The legal wrangle between Obama administration's Environmental Protection Agency vs. Texas and other litigants were consolidated into one case, and the hearing began on February 24, 2014 at the U.S. Supreme Court. At the heart of the case was U.S. Supreme Court's 2007 ruling that Congress had authorized the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas from vehicles. However, EPA extended that mandate to assert its regulatory arm not only to cover emission from vehicles, but also to other facilities such as refineries and power plants under the Clean Air Act, which calls for regulating any facility with more than 250 tons of pollutants. The state of Texas and other litigants argued that greenhouse gases such as CO2 were not subject to Clean Air Act, and so the EPA lacked the authority to regulate them. Also, at 250 tons of pollutants, many facilities such as hospitals and schools will be subject to the Clean Air Act regulation. To work around that, EPA tweaked the threshold, thus violating the Clean Air Act, according to these litigants.
********************* EPA VS. STATES IN THE U.S. SUPREME COURT **************

EPA Rejects Texas' Parts of Regional Haze-Fighting Plan
Environmental Protection Agency on November 24, 2014 rejected parts of the clean-air plan submitted by Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Under the plan submitted by the TCEQ, 14 coal-burning units at seven Texas power plants have to be equipped or improved to reduce emissions of SO2. Under the Clean Air Act, states have to submit their plans to reduce pollutants that cause hazy skies, and coal-burning plants face a herculean task to work on this front at the same time they face cheaper natural gas that emit significantly less pollution. EPA under the Administrator Gina McCarthy has been active in writing rules and re-setting the regulatory landscape on emission standards for mercury, CO2 and other pollutants. By December 1, 2014, Administrator McCarthy will issue a revised standard for Ozone pollution in country's urban areas.

**************************** EPA's NEW OZONE STANDARD *********************
EPA's New Ozone Standard Sets Texas in Collision Course
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy on November 26, 2014 published new requirements for Ozone standard for nation's urban counties. The stringent requirements, lauded by environmental and physician groups, raise the bar of clean air standard significantly compared to the requirements ordered by the EPA under President George W. Bush. The current standard, ordered under President Bush, of safe Ozone amount in air, 75 parts per billion (PPB), according to many experts and environmentalists, was too high, and they were particularly elated after the new requirements would lower the Ozone threshold to a range of 65 PPB to 70 PPB. Especially for North Texas, that's a high bar to reach as the Ozone level in North Texas as measured at a facility in Denton is as high as 81 PPB and has even failed to pass the current threshold set under the Bush administration.

EPA Issues New Ozone Rules to Reduce Smog
The Environmental Protection Agency on October 1, 2015 issued the final rule on the limits of Ozone in the air as part of effort to fight against asthma and other breathing related diseases. Under the new EPA rules, the Ozone standard is to be brought down from the current limit of 75 PPB to 70 PPB. The new rules have detractors on the both sides of the issue. Many in the business side called the rules a job killer, while environmentalists said that the rules didn't go far enough, citing the June 2014 study conducted by the Clean Air Science Advisory Committee, EPA's independent science advisory body, that reported Ozone level around 70PPB to have significant adverse health impact on vulnerable groups.
**************************** EPA's NEW OZONE STANDARD *********************

************************** OBAMA-ERA WATER RULES REVERSED ***************
Trump Administration Overturns Obama-era Water Rules
The EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Assistant Secretary of Army for Civil Works R.D. James on September 12, 2019 signed an official proclamation that would start a rule-making process to be finalized by the end of the year. The document signed by the Trump administration officials defines much more narrowly what's considered as protected waterways. Under the Clean Water Act of 1972, developers, farmers and ranchers have to seek permit before beginning activities that may lead to polluting streams and tributaries before they merge to larger lakes and water bodies. In 2006, the United States Supreme Court delved into the issue, but didn't deliver any definitive verdict. Obama administration in 2015 issued rules protecting many streams and waterways from pollution. The September 12, 2019, Trump administration's move aims at overturning the 2015 Obama-era rule.

Biden Admin Reverses Trump-era Water Rules

Environmental Protection Agency on December 30, 2022 introduced rules that would redefine what could be brought under the aegis of Waters of the United States framework, thus overturning the Trump-era rules imposed in 2019. EPA Administrator Michael Reagan said on December 30, 2022 that the proposed rules would "deliver a durable definition of WOTUS that safeguards our nation's waters, strengthens economic opportunities, and protects people's health while providing greater certainty for farmers, ranchers, and landowners". The proposed rules strike a balance, according to the Biden administration, between laissez faire approach of Trump administration that has removed, through its 2019 rules, nation's half of wetlands and 1.19 million miles of rain-dependent streams and rivers from federal protection and the controversial 2015 effort by the Obama administration to expand the scope of Clean Water Act of 1972. 

Biden Administration Revises of WOTUS Rules after Supreme Court's Adverse Ruling

EPA on August 29, 2023 unveiled new rules that revised the broader, more expansive rules unveiled earlier after the conservative justices of the U.S. Supreme Court in a May 2023 verdict restrained the authority of the administration from what it could do to apply the Clean Water Act to protect water streams, creeks, marshlands, wetlands and other water bodies. The case pitted the U.S. against an Idaho couple--Chantell and Michael Sackett--as the plaintiff objected to the U.S. requiring them to getting a federal permit before filling part of their property with rocks and boulders. Alluding to the property rights, the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2023 sharply limited Biden administration's authority to regulate wetlands that didn't have a "continuous surface connection" with "traditional interstate navigable waters" such as river or ocean.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan, unveiling the revised rules on August 29, 2023, alluded to the U.S. Supreme Court's "continuous surface connection" rationale for the dilution of stricter WOTUS rules unveiled in December 2022. 
************************** OBAMA-ERA WATER RULES REVERSED ***************

************************** HYDROFLUOROCARBON PHASE-OUT RULE ************

EPA Proposes Rule to Reduce Refrigerator and Freezer Gases

Environmental Protection Agency on May 3, 2021 unveiled the first rule-making proposal of the Biden administration, targeting the Hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, a key ingredient of the gases for refrigerators and air conditioners. Congress as part of an omnibus pandemic relief and spending bill passed a measure in December 2020 to wean the country from production and use of HFCs over a 15-year timeline. HFCs are hundreds to thousands times more potent than Carbon Dioxide in warming up the planet, and thus the rule targeting HFCs is more effective in mitigating climate change crisis than rulesets focused on other greenhouse emissions. The May 3, 2021, ruleset envisions cutting down the production and use of HFCs by 85% over 15 years. 

EPA Administrator Michael Regan issued a statement on May 3, 2021, lauding the rule as part of "President Biden's ambitious agenda to address the climate crisis". In addition to calling for a 15-year phase-out, American Innovation and Manufacturing Act, or AIM Act, strives for capturing and storing the carbon emissions and reducing diesel emissions by vehicles. EPA analysis has shown savings of about $284 billion over the next three decades and reduction of equivalent of 187 million metric tons of Carbon Dioxide, roughly equal to annual greenhouse gas emissions from one in seven vehicles in the United States. 

************************** HYDROFLUOROCARBON PHASE-OUT RULE ************

************************** JOURNEY TO JUSTICE ********************************

EPA to Ramp up after Administrator's "Journey to Justice" Tour 

Environmental equity is very personal to Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan as he himself has been a testament, while growing up, to communities of color being subjected to disproportionate exposure of toxic elements. After taking a "Journey to Justice" tour in the Fall of 2021 through the Gulf Coast's petrochemical trail spanning three states, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, Michael Regan had a more profound understanding on how vulnerable communities were bearing the disproportionate brunt of pollutants emitted by refineries, petrochemical plants and other energy plants dotting along the Gulf Coast. On January 26, 2022, EPA announced that it would carry out unannounced visits and install air quality monitoring equipment in Louisiana's "chemical corridor" between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. EPA also ordered the city of Jackson, Mississippi to remedy its water pipelines and water supply systems as they, at the current conditions, violated the Safe Drinking Water Act. In separate letters, Administrator Michael Regan urged Jackson and other Mississippi cities to use $79 million from the bipartisan infrastructure package to "solve some of the more dire needs" the localities were facing. Industrial pollutions affect the health of communities of color more severely than their White peers. A Toxic Release Inventory prepared by the EPA shows that the African Americans and other minorities constitute 56% of the population who live in the vicinity of landfills, refineries and chemical plants, making EPA action all the more urgent to drive the environmental equity. 

EPA to Target Chemical Industry's Pollution

Often termed as Environmental Racism, the sheer degree of pollution from Louisiana's Chemical Corridor has harmed the surrounding communities of color for generations, making them as part of the so called Cancer Ally. During EPA Administrator Michael Regan's Journey to Justice tour in 2021, he had intimate conversation with the communities that had been afflicted significantly by the emissions of the chemical plants in the vicinity of their neighborhoods. 

Now comes the time for regulatory prescription to address decades-old systemic discrimination. On April 9, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency issued rulesets, cutting emissions from industrial pollution sources such as Ethylene Oxide, Chloroprene, Vinyl Chloride, benzene 1,3-Butadiene and Ethylene Dichloride, respectively. The rulesets issued on April 9, 2024 call for reducing 6,200 tons of toxic pollutions annually and beginning "fenceline monitoring" for the six key pollutants--Ethylene Oxide, Chloroprene, Vinyl Chloride, benzene 1,3-Butadiene and Ethylene Dichloride--that would be crucial for bringing accountability and transparency. 

************************** JOURNEY TO JUSTICE ********************************

EPA Investigating whether Colorado Rules Lax in Protecting Minorities from Harmful Pollution

Environmental Protection Agency has launched an investigation in March 2022 into how state rules are working in providing protection, or lack of it, to the communities of color from the harmful pollution from Suncor refinery in north of Denver. Often pollution levels exceed federal standard, once forcing even a school to go into lockdown. EPA in a December 28, 2022, letter explained the scope and scale of the investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

EPA Outlines the Framework of "Green Bank"

Biden administration's EPA on February 14, 2023 unveiled a broad outline of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, or so called Green Bank, established as part of the landmark climate law passed last year. According to the outline unveiled on February 14, 2023, $20 billion will be distributed among 15 nonprofits who will work with banks, institutions and individuals to invest in green energy projects in the under- and unprivileged areas. Another $7 billion will be invested through states and local jurisdictions in solar energy sector, including installing solar panels on rooftops, community settings and other areas. Lauding the "Green Bank", EPA Administrator Michael Regan said that the fund would help the low-income and poor communities to "realize opportunities". 

EPA MEMO ON CYBERSECURTITY RISKS TO WATER UTILITIES

EPA Requires States to Report on Cybersecurity Risks to Water Systems

A day after Biden administration issued a wide-ranging cybersecurity plan to counter and curate rising cyberattacks on the nation's infrastructure, Environmental Protection Agency on March 3, 2023 issued a memo requiring states to report on cybersecurity risks in the audit of their public water systems. After a 2021 remotely orchestrated effort to poison the water system of a small public water jurisdiction near Tampa in Florida raised nationwide alarm, it became imperative for America's more than 151,000 public water systems to strengthen the cybersecurity defense. The memo written by EPA Assistant Administrator Radhika Fox didn't outline a timeline.  

***************************** FOREVER CHEMICALS (PFAS) ************************

EPA Issues Ruleset to Reduce "Forever Chemicals" in Water

Environmental Protection Agency on March 14, 2023 has issued rules to lower the PFAS, or Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, a family of chemicals that stay in water without degradation, thus assuming the moniker of "forever chemicals", to the lowest measurable level. Calling it a "transformational change", EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Radhika Fox said that the goal would be limit the PFAS level to 4 parts per trillion, lowest measurable level as of today. The ruleset now goes to commentary period and is expected to become the law later this year. 

EPA Issues Final Rules on "Forever Chemicals"

Using Fayetteville, North Caronia as the venue, EPA Administrator Michael Regan on April 10, 2024 announced the final rules on limiting the concentration of "forever chemicals", or PFAS, in the nation's water systems. Environmentalists and water safety advocates lauded Regan's focused stand on adhering the scientific criteria to regulate the water quality for public health and not diluting the proposed standards originally unveiled in March 2023. 

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, or PFAS, is a broad family of chemicals that have long staying power in water. Under the finalized rules, two specific types of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, or PFAS--PFOA and PFOS--are required to be capped at 4 parts per trillion threshold. Three other types, including GenEx Chemicals that pose a severe problems in North Carolina, are required to adhere to the maximum limit of 10 parts per trillion. 

Many of the nation's water utilities are planning to sue the Biden administration over the stricter limits.

Trump Admin's EPA Dilutes Forever Chemicals Rules

Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency led by Administrator Lee Zeldin said on May 14, 2025 that it would abrogate the rules written by Biden administration related to the three types of PFAS, including GenEx Chemicals, and retain the new thresholds (4 parts per trillion) for two other PFAS--PFOA and PFOS--chemicals, but delayed the timeline of adherence by two more years to 2031. 

***************************** FOREVER CHEMICALS (PFAS) ************************

EPA Finalizes Rules that will Boost Biofuels, but not Ethanol for the Next Three Years

Environmental Protection Agency on June 21, 2023 unveiled new rules for biofuel industry that, according to the agency chief, Michael Regan, will reduce the reliance of foreign fuel by up to 140,000 barrels a day and "play a critical role by diversifying our country's energy mix and combating climate change, all while providing good paying jobs". Under the new rules, biofuel blend for 2023 is set at 20.94 billion gallons, 21.54 billion gallons for 2024, and 22.33 billion gallons for 2025, respectively. However, the federal Renewable Fuel Standard keeps the ethanol volume the same (15 billion gallons) for all these three years (2023-2025), a decision that frustrates farmers in Midwestern states such as Iowa. Many biofuel advocates thought that EPA would be more aggressive in embracing "advanced biofuels" such as algae, switchgrass, landfill waste, or cellulosic ethanol, but EPA Administrator Michael Regan walked on a cautious rope there. 

EPA Tightens Standards for Soot Emissions 

Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency on February 7, 2024 took a much anticipated step to lower the cap of soot emissions from the current allowable maximum of 12 micrograms of fine particle pollution per cubic meter of the air to 9 micrograms by 2032. EPA Administrator Michael Regan estimated that the new rule would save $46 billion in healthcare and other costs, prevent circa 800,000 asthma attacks and avoid 4,500 premature deaths by 2032. 

EPA's Internal Watchdog Points Erroneous Fund Allocation based on non-Reliable Data

The Environmental Protection Agency allocated circa $3 billion among states to identify and replace lead pipes based on unverified data, according to a report published on May 16, 2024 by the agency's Inspector-General Sean O'Donnell. The report implies that some states may have received more than needed amount, while others have received less than their required funding. Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, EPA is to distribute $15 billion over five years among states to identify and replace lead pipelines. 

EPA Rules on a Key Pesticide 

Environmental Protection Agency Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention on August 6, 2024 issued emergency rules that suspended the registration of Dimethyl Tetrachloroterephthalate, or DCPA, a weedkiller, used in fields growing crops such as cabbage, Brussels, Broccoli, Sprouts and onions as, based on the research, DCPA was linked to adversely affecting the vital metrics of the newborns of pregnant farmworkers tending to fields sprayed with the pesticide manufactured by only one firm in the US, AMVAC Chemical. 

************** FLUORIDE IN WATER: EPA VS. FOOD & WATER WATCH ***************

Unprecedent Ruling by a Court on Water Fluoridation

The fluoridation of the nation's water systems began after the federal government in 1950 approved addition of fluoride to water to fight tooth decay. The water systems continued the practice after toothpaste manufacturers came up with their own fluoride-based products. However, as time passed and research domains expanded, there emerged a new concern over the impact of fluoride on the development of children's IQ. 

In 2015, federal officials lowered the fluoridation cap from 1.2 to 0.7milligrams per liter. The WHO recommendation is a ceiling of 1.5 milligrams per liter. Separately, the EPA had a maximum allowable limit of 4 milligrams per liter to ensure against chemical's adverse impact on bones and pain. 

The genesis of this case is in 2017 when Food and Water Watch has filed a lawsuit against EPA in California. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ordered the EPA to lower the fluoride levels in the water, but stopped short of what could be the threshold. The Dallas Morning News in its September 26, 2024, edition reported that EPA was reviewing the verdict. 

************** FLUORIDE IN WATER: EPA VS. FOOD & WATER WATCH ***************

*********************************** LEAD IN WATER *******************************

Final EPA Rule Calls for Removal of Lead Pipes within 10 Years

Biden administration on October 8, 2024 published the final rule on lead pipe removal from the nation's water system network. The final EPA rule comes on the heels of 10th anniversary of Flint Water Crisis, a shameful and sorrowful chapter in our nation's life. Under the new rule, the lead concentration can't go above 10 parts per billion, or 10 PPB, one-third reduction in the current lead standard of 15 PPB. If the lead content goes above 10 PPB, the pipes will be removed. President Joe Biden used a cavernous union hall in Milwaukee, a city with the fifth-largest lead pipe network, on October 8, 2024 to remind the voters who could be trusted to address the lead in water system. 

*********************************** LEAD IN WATER *******************************

EPA to Eliminate Successful Energy Star Program

The Dallas Morning News reported on May 8, 2025 that Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency was planning to terminate a three-decade+ money-saving program that had saved so far $500 billion in consumer bills. The Energy Star program for common household appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators and ACs was unveiled in 1992 by George H. W. Bush administration. 

EPA Proposes to Rescind Linchpin of Many Climate Regulation Rules

The 2009 "Endangerment Finding" highlighted by the EPA has become a key driver to pushing a slew of state and federal laws to curb the emissions of the Greenhouse gases, including CO2. Trump administration's second stint has zeroed in on this scientific finding from the day number 1. On July 29, 2025, Trump administration took the first stab at this finding ["Endangerment Finding"] by proposing to rescind it.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin called the rescission effort single most "deregulatory action in the history of America". 

PM2.5: Trump Admin Argues to Roll back Biden Era Particulate Matter Rule

Trump administration's Environmental Protection Agency on November 24, 2025 said in a filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia to vacate the Biden-era PM2.5-related rule that had been carried out "without rigorous, stepwise process that Congress required". The rule is expected to go into operational mode with the "area designation deadline of February 7, 2026", according to the filing, and the administration is appealing the court to vacate the rule beforehand.

Under the Biden-era rule, PM2.5, or Particulate Matters measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, will be limited to no more than 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter of air. Trump administration is seeking to revert the rule the first Trump term's threshold: 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

EPA Takes Final Steps to Rescind "Endangerment Finding" Rule

Trump administration on February 12, 2026 took the final step to gut the Obama-era environmental guardrails, known as the "Endangerment Finding" rule that came into effect in 2009. Standing alongside EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Trump touted the action single largest deregulatory step in the U.S. history. 

OCEANS, ARCTIC, ANTARCTICA, WHALING BAN

WHALING BAN

An international commission issued a binding ruling on March 31, 2014 banning whale hunt in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica. The Hague-based International Court of Justice said in a 12-4 ruling that Japan was at breach of its international obligation by issuing permits to catch and kill minke whales and issuing hunting permits related to humpback and fin whales within the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, established by the International Whaling Commission. Japan can't appeal the court's ruling which dismissed Tokyo's argument that its whaling program was meant for scientific purposes.

Japan to File New Plan to Resume Whale Hunting
In what was supposed to be the last nail in the coffin for Japan's whaling program near Antarctica because of a caustic ruling by the Hague-based International Court of Justice on March 31, 2014 turned out to be nothing more than a year-long postponement of the country's research whaling program as Agriculture Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on April 18, 2014 that it would file a new application to the International Whaling Commission for its research whaling program for 2015.

ARCTIC

20% More Loss of Ice Sheets Reported in New Research

The recent research on the volume of ice sheets in Greenland pushes the world to an unchartered territory in future as the consequences will not only be limited to sea level rise, but to influence the ocean water circulation pattern. The research was published in Nature on January 17, 2024. Earlier researches and findings had estimated a loss volume of 5,000 gigatons of ice sheets during study period  (1985-2022), equivalent to 26-foot tall ice coverings for a Texas size place. The new research based on more precise measurements of retreat (melting at a faster rate than forming) and calving (breaking off the edge of massive ice sheet) on the periphery shows that an additional 1,034 gigatons might have been lost. 

************************************** ARCTIC OIL DRILLING *********************

Protesters Use Kayaks to Show Displeasure against Arctic Drilling
As Royal Dutch Shell's 400-foot-long, 300-foot-tall Polar Pioneer drilling rig, docked in the Elliott Bay next to the Port of Seattle Terminal 5, was set to begin its voyage for pre-exploration preparatory work in the Arctic Ocean, thousands of environmentalists on May 16, 2015 protested against the company in an innovative way by paddling hundreds kayaks in the vicinity of the rig.

Trump Administration Releases ANWR Drilling Plan
Trump administration's Interior Department on September 12, 2019 issued the finalized version of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling plan that would allow energy companies to tap 1.56 million acres of the 19-million acre refuge. 

Biden Administration to Conduct New “Environmental Impacts” Analysis of ANWR

Hours after being sworn in as the 46^th President of the United States, President Joe Biden signed an executive order—one of dozens such orders to undo several Trump-era policies—to pause on the leasing process of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and instructed the Interior Department to review the previous lease-granting process. After more than seven months of review, the Interior Department found “multiple legal deficiencies” in Trump-era review process. The Bureau of Land Management announced on August 3, 2021 that it would begin a public process to determine the scope of the review and identify major issues related to the leasing process as part of an endeavor to “conduct a new, comprehensive analysis of potential environmental impacts of the oil and gas program".

************************************** ARCTIC OIL DRILLING *********************

ANTARCTICA

U.K. Gives Licenses for Pricey Chilean Seabass, Squaring off against Key Ally

The Dallas Morning News reported in its June 26, 2022, edition that U.K. had quietly issued licenses for fishing Chilean Seabass off the coast of South Georgia, an uninhabited island on the periphery of Antarctica. For the first time, the Chilean Seabass fishing will go without any catch limit from the 26-member Commission on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, or CCAMLR. U.S. criticizes the U.K. action to issue licenses in the Spring of 2022 without seeking catch limit from CCAMLR as irresponsible at best and illegal at worst. 

Largest Iceberg on the Move

The Dallas Morning News reported in its February 9, 2024, edition that the world's largest iceberg was moving at the rate of 0.62 miles per hour towards South Georgia Island. Iceberg A-23A broke off the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf to the northeast of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet in 1986. The Rhode Island-size iceberg was stuck in the ocean for more than three and half decades before beginning to loosen in early 2020s, and by March 2023, it was freely floating. A-23A is the oldest and largest iceberg, and weighs nearly 1 trillion tons. 

The iceberg is on its way towards South Georgia Island, a no-human island, but enriched ecosystem that's home to many endangered species, variety of phytoplankton and zooplankton. Its productive water nurtures a vibrant supply of Krill, prey for Fur Seals. There is abundance of support system for Penguins, Seals and Seabirds in the near ideal climate of South Georgia Island. 

OCEANS (GENERAL)

Third U.N. Ocean Conference Begins with Hope for Treaty Ratification

The third U.N. Ocean Conference began in Nice, France as President Emmanuel Macron on June 9, 2025 called a healthy ocean crucial to biodiversity and sustainability. At the heart, is the so called High Seas Treaty adopted in 2023. To become effective, the treaty requires ratification from 60 nations. As of today, at least 55 nations have ratified the High Seas Treaty of 2023, with another 15 expected to do by the end of 2025. The treaty will allow nations to conserve areas of oceans which are in the ungoverned, international zone, accounting for two-third areas of the world's oceans.

Healthy oceans are key to human survival as 50% oxygen we breathe comes from the oceans, they also absorb 30% of carbon emissions and 90% of the excess heat produced by those emissions. Only 2.7% of the oceans are now immune from the destructive extractive activities, according to Marine Conservation Institute. The goal of the international community is a lofty pledge of so called "30-by-30", implying 30% of the land and ocean areas aimed at for conservation by 2030. Without implementing High Seas Treaty of 2023 rigorously, it will be hard to meet the lofty goal of "30-by-30".

Air Pollution: A Tale of Two Different Stories from Beijing and New Delhi

The high-pitched mid-January 2014 warning by the U.S. embassy in Beijing about the air pollution in the Chinese capital caught eyes of people all over the world as a key measure of fine particulate matters known as PM2.5 exceeded 500, upper limit of the measurement scale. PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matters who are smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameters. For the first three weeks of 2014, the average measure of PM2.5 was 227 in Beijing where the same measure averaged 473 in New Delhi. While Beijing crossed the mark of 500 in the night of January 15, 2014, New Delhi had eight such days, but without raising the slightest of eyebrows. The fine particulate matters are linked to premature death, heart disease, stroke and heart failure. In October 2013, World Health Organization declared that it caused lung cancer.

A WHO Study Finds India Most Polluted
A World Health Organization study of 1,600 cities found four Indian cities--New Delhi, Patna, Gwalior and Raipur--to be four-most polluted cities in the world. The annual average of PM2.5 in New Delhi is 153 compared to Beijing's annual average of 59. The WHO study was published on May 8, 2014.

Beijing Imposes Environmental Emergency
Nearly two years after devising a four-stage alert system to flag severe air quality, authorities for the first time ever raised the alert to the highest stage, so-called red state, for three consecutive days beginning on December 8, 2015. As part of the red-state alert, Beijing's schools will remain closed, half of the vehicles will be required to be off the roads and many factories will be shut down over the three days December 8-10, 2015. On December 8, 2015, the reading of PM2.5 rose to 300 micrograms per cubic meter, and was expected to rise until a cool front would arrive on December 10, 2015 to bring it down. Under the WHO guidelines, any reading of PM2.5 over 25 is deemed unhealthy.

Indian Capital Choked with Smog; Schools, Colleges, Factories Shuttered

New Delhi region on November 4, 2022 experienced "severe" air quality standard for the third day in a week, leading to school, college and factory closures and ban on diesel trucks with non-essential goods entering the capital region. On November 4, 2022, the air quality standard hit a record of 445, almost 10 times the acceptable threshold of 24-hour average of 45 as recommended by the WHO in 2021. 

Chemical Spills

CALIFORNIA

One of the Largest Spills in California Foul Beaches

Oil sheens are seen floating on the waves of Pacific Ocean and fouling the beaches in one of the worst oil spills in Southern California in recent decades. A pipeline running under the ocean might have been ruptured either late October 1, 2021 or early October 2, 2021. Divers worked on fixing the leaks, by late October 2, 2021 the oil spill has stopped, but not before at least 126,000 gallons had spilled into the waters off the Huntington Beach. Skimmers and boomers have been deployed to mitigate against further damage. Reports of oil globules, dead fishes and aquatic lives washing ashore have poured in. Amplify Energy operates the pipeline, and its CEO Martyn Willsher said that the maximum amount that the pipeline had carrying capacity for had been spilled into the ocean. Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr called the oil spill "devastating" to her community in "a challenging year". 

Ship's Anchor Reported to be Responsible for Damage to Pipeline

One of the worst oil spills in Southern California that had happened in the weekend and led to more than 126,000 gallons of spill, fouling beaches and aquatic life near Huntington Beach might have been caused by a ship’s anchor hitting the pipeline at the ocean floor, according to an October 4, 2021, report by the Los Angeles Time.

Anchor Theory Gets Credence in Government's Preliminary Findings

A day after first floated openly by various sources, an order issued by Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on October 5, 2021 blocked the company that owned the damaged pipeline from resuming the operation until it carried out the extensive testing and inspections, saying that the pipeline might have been damaged by a ship's anchor, based on the preliminary findings. The order did not identify the source of the findings. The damage to the pipeline happened 5 miles offshore at a depth of 98 feet, according to PHMSA. Coast Guard Captain Rebecca Ore said that divers had determined that about 4,000 feet of pipeline had been "laterally displaced" by about 105 feet. Amplify Energy CEO Martyn Willsher said that the "pipeline has essentially pulled like a bow string" in a path that looked more "almost a semicircle". 

"Surf City USA" Re-opens to Public in 10 Days

The panoramic beach and surfers' paradise of Huntington Beach, a Pacific Coastal community of 200,000 people nicknamed as the "Surf City USA", has reopened to public on October 11, 2021, sooner than many have expected. People have returned to the ocean for surfing, many are seen playing volleyball on the glittering sandy beach and taking walk on a nearby trail. The beach has been re-opened after water quality test has found the ocean water safe more than after an oil spill that has led to, authorities now believe, at least 25,000 gallons of crude, but no more than 132,000 gallons, contaminating the ocean water. There is another new twist that has come to the light as far as causal factor for the oil spill is concerned. A ship's anchor might have damaged the pipeline underneath the ocean several months ago, but it ruptured only few days ago. 

Coast Guard Names a Panama-flagged Ship as Party of Interest

The U.S. Coast Guard on October 16, 2021 has identified a Panama-registered ship, MSC DANNIT, as a key object of interest, with theories abound that the anchor of the ship may be responsible for dragging the pipeline underneath the Pacific Ocean more than 100 feet sometimes in January 2021. As a result, the pipeline might have been bent, but did not rupture at that time. So, it is not clear altogether whether there is a subsequent ship or other factors which may be responsible for breaking the pipeline. This past weekend as the ship returned to the area, investigators boarded on the vessel to probe the captain, search information from the sailing log and look into the voyage data recorder. MSC DANNIT's operator is a Swiss company, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, that employs more than  100,000 workers and operates about 600 vessels. MSC DANNIT's owner is Dordellas Finance Corp. The October 2021 break in the pipeline led to about 25,000 gallons of oil spill that had fouled beach and killed fish, birds and mammals. 

Amplify, Two Subsidiaries Indicted over Oil Spill

A federal grand jury on December 15, 2021 indicted Amplify Energy and two of its subsidiaries on a single misdemeanor count of illegal oil spewing. 

COLORADO

Three Million Gallons of Toxic Fluids Foul Rivers in Three Western States
EPA workers accidentally breached a wall of a forlorn mine, Gold King Mine, in Silverton, Colorado on August 5, 2015, spilling 3 million gallon toxic fluids that had spilled to Animas River and subsequently fouled rivers in three states. The August 5, 2015, accident at Gold King Mine should be an eye-opener to all for the potential hazard that thousands of abandoned mines in the western mountain states pose to the communities far and beyond where they are located.

$90 million Settlement Announced

After a long-running dispute of who and how the clean-up and maintenance of a superfund site will go on, the state of Colorado, EPA and a mining company, Denver-based Sunnyside Gold Corp., on January 21, 2022 have agreed to a $90 million settlement. A federal judge is yet to approve the settlement after a 30-day comment period. The $90 million settlement will fund continuing clean-up of the Bonita Peak Mining District Superfund site. The superfund site property is owned by Sunnyside. However, the August 5, 2015, accident had happened at the Gold King Mine, another site in the district not owned by Sunnyside Gold Corporation, as EPA-led contractor crew were working on the  excavation. An estimated 3 million gallon of toxic fluid, containing 540 U.S. tons of metals, had contaminated rivers and downstream tributaries in Colorado, New Mexico, the Navajo Nation and Utah. Farmers could not use the irrigation water and water utilities stopped using the water, leading to indescribable miseries to tens of thousands of people. 

WEST VIRGINIA

Nine counties surrounding Charleston, capital of West Virginia, on January 10, 2014 were reeling under the impact and aftermath of a chemical spill that rushed authorities to warn residents not to take showers, use tap waters and do laundry. There were run into grocery stores, and packs of water bottles were going off the shelves quickly. The spill was first detected on January 9, 2014 from a 48,000-gallon storage tank owned by the Freedom Industries, and overran a containment area. An estimated 5,000 gallon of chemical, called the 4-methylcyclohexane, escaped the company's river terminal storage tank, and a substantial amount flowed to the Elk River. The chemical is used in coal processing.

After five days (January 9-13, 2014) of staying off the tap water, some of the affected 300,000 residents of Charleston and surrounding nine counties started to use tap water on January 13, 2014 in a limited scale after getting approval from state authorities.

On January 20, 2014, West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and Senator Joe Manchin, D-W. VA, proposed tighter rules for chemical storage facilities as a January 9, 2014, spill of a coal processing chemical, 4-methylcyclohexane, contaminated the Elk River with 7,500 gallons flowing 1 1/2 miles downstream and got into West Virginia American Water Co.'s water supply and forcing residents of nine counties surrounding Charleston from using the water for days for daily necessities. The state Department of Environment Protection officials said that the storage facility of the Freedom Industries Inc., which had filed for bankruptcy on January 17, 2014, evaded scrutiny because it was not a chemical manufacturer, the chemical was not hazardous and storage facility was above-ground. The stricter rules sought separately by Governor Tomblin and Senator Manchin aimed at closing the loopholes.
* Under Tomblin's proposal, there will be annual inspection of the above-ground chemical storage facility and any water district serving the public will have to create an emergency plan for any chemical spill.
* Under Manchin's proposal, federal regulators will set the standards for state regulators, who will be mandated to inspect chemical facilities with exposure to public water system once in every three years and once in every five years otherwise.

On January 27, 2014, the West Virginia state officials revised the volume of January 9, 2014, chemical spill from a storage facility to 10,000 gallons.