ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

The Environmental Protection Agency is strengthening a rule aimed at controlling and cleaning up toxic waste from coal-fired power plants.

The bill would require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to focus enforcement and increase penalties on repeat violators and increase public outreach. Still, environmental advocates say the effort was too “modest” in its reach.

The Biden administration is proposing new limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants, its most ambitious effort yet to reduce planet-warming pollution from the nation’s second-largest contributor to climate change.

A federal appeals court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate perchlorate, reversing a rollback the agency first made under then-President Donald Trump.

The Senate has approved a measure that would reinstate tariffs on solar panel imports from several Southeast Asian countries after President Joe Biden paused them in a bid to boost solar installations in the U.S. Lawmakers also approved a separate plan late Wednesday to undo federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a rare grouse that’s found in parts of the Midwest and Southwest, including one of the country’s most prolific oil and gas fields.

Fuel stations throughout the country will be able to sell gasoline blended with 15% ethanol during the summer under an emergency waiver issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Regulators repeatedly documented — but did little to address — problems at a Houston-area tank farm. Then on March 17, 2019, a fire blew through a corner of the facility, releasing toxic chemicals into nearby communities for weeks.

The Biden administration is proposing strict new automobile pollution limits that would require up to two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2032.

A coalition of environmental groups claims the EPA has failed for decades to update limits on the discharge of some dangerous chemicals into waterways. Most of the worst polluters are in Texas.

The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Tuesday to limit the use of the chemical ethylene oxide after finding higher than expected cancer risk at facilities that use it to sterilize billions of medical devices each year.

The Biden administration will propose strict new automobile pollution limits this week that would require at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030, ramping up quickly to as high as 67% by 2032.

Defending his administration’s actions on clean water, President Joe Biden on Thursday vetoed a congressional resolution that would have overturned protections for the nation’s waterways that Republicans have criticized as overly intrusive.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed that chemical plants nationwide measure certain hazardous compounds that cross beyond their property lines and reduce them when they are too high.

The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening rules that limit emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants from coal-fired power plants.

In a first-of-its-kind survey of public water utilities, the EPA estimates that 7% of water lines in Texas, more than 647,000, are lead based. It’s the fifth-highest proportion of lead-based water lines in the country.

A new survey of lead pipes across the United States estimates that Florida has more than any other state.

Federal limits on particulate matter commonly known as soot could mean cleaner, safer air for Texans. But environmental experts worry Texas may snub rules.

A new “good neighbor” rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency will restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution they can’t control.

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing the first federal limits on harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water, saying it could prevent thousands of illnesses.

The Biden administration on Friday said it would require states to report on cybersecurity threats in audits of public water systems.

The National Transportation Safety Board says the fire in last month’s Ohio train derailment melted a key part of the tank cars filled with toxic chemicals.

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose restrictions on harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water after finding they are dangerous in amounts so small as to be undetectable.

A Deer Park company reportedly agreed to receive millions of gallons of toxic wastewater that was used to fight fires during the Ohio train derailment.

The Deer Park company that reportedly agreed to receive millions of gallons of toxic wastewater used to fight fires during the Ohio train derailment has made a statement in regard to the pause placed by federal officials on their operation.

Federal environmental authorities say shipment of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment will resume Monday to two Ohio sites.

Federal environmental authorities have ordered a temporary halt in the shipment of contaminated waste from the site of a fiery train derailment in Ohio involving hazardous materials.

The Biden administration is outlining how states and nonprofit groups can apply for $27 billion in funding from a “green bank” that will provide low-cost financing for projects that cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it is awarding $1 billion from the federal Superfund program to clean up 22 toxic waste sites across the country.

More than 20 years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency listed a Northwest Harris County shopping center at the 11600 block of Jones Road as a superfund site after county officials say a former dry cleaning business spent more than a decade improperly dumping toxic waste.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to investigate allegations that the state is failing to enforce the Clean Water Act. Environmentalists say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s system of issuing permits has made it too easy for industries to contaminate rivers, lakes and estuaries.

Commenting on the EPA’s proposed new rule to reduce methane leaks nationally, environmentalists said Texas regulators are hesitant to address emissions of the climate super-pollutant.

The oil industry pushed hard against the proposal to issue an ozone nonattainment designation, which would have required that companies reduce oilfield emissions.

The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $100 million in competitive grants for projects that advance environmental justice in communities disproportionately affected by industrial pollution and other hazards.

Business groups say a Biden administration proposal to toughen standards for a deadly air pollutant would create a “regulatory burden” and could “stifle manufacturing.”.

President Joe Biden’s administration has finalized regulations that protect hundreds of thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, repealing a Trump-era rule that federal courts had thrown out and that environmentalists said left waterways vulnerable to pollution.

A government report says fuel economy for 2021 model year vehicles in the U.S. stayed flat with 2020 as people continued to buy less-efficient trucks and SUVs.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed increasing ethanol and other biofuels that must be blended into the nation’s fuel supplies over the next three years.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday approved a nearly $700 million plan to remove all lead water pipes in the Denver region, saying the local water utility’s approach for reducing lead levels is succeedings and making swift progress.

KPRC2 Investigates has learned the Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing a whistleblower complaint about emissions defeat devices on at least four Waller County EMS ambulances.

In a major action to address toxic wastewater from coal-fired power plants, the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday ordered an Ohio utility to stop dumping dangerous coal ash into unlined storage ponds and speed cleanup of the site.

The Biden administration has ramped up efforts to reduce methane emissions, targeting the oil and gas industry for its role in global warming even as President Joe Biden has pressed energy producers for more oil drilling to lower prices at the gasoline pump.

Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas, and it packs about 80 times the climate-warming power of carbon dioxide.

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded grants for projects to monitor air quality in 37 states, with a focus on minority communities and other areas overburdened by pollution.

Nearly 400 school districts across the country are receiving grants totaling about $1 billion to purchase 2,500 “clean” school buses under a new federal program.

The Environmental Protection Agency says it has reached a settlement with United Parcel Service to resolve violations of hazardous waste regulations at more than 1,100 facilities across 45 states and Puerto Rico.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it has evidence that Black residents in an industrial section of Louisiana face an increased risk of cancer from a nearby chemical plant — and that state officials have let air pollution remain high and downplayed its threat.

The federal agency plans to increase efforts to help states adapt to the effects of climate change most damaging to each region.

The Environmental Protection Agency says it will nearly double — to almost $1 billion — the money available for states to acquire electric school buses.

The NAACP on Tuesday accused Mississippi of discriminating against Black residents by denying badly needed federal funds for drinking water infrastructure in Jackson and instead diverting money to largely-white communities that needed it less.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan has returned to Mississippi’s capital city to meet with Jackson officials about the city’s troubled water system.

The Biden administration is using Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to investigate environmental discrimination by state agencies and others that receive federal funds.

The city’s health department found dioxins in soil samples along the fence line of a Union Pacific rail yard. Mayor Sylvester Turner said during the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival that plans to clean up the contamination should now include relocating residents.

Forty years after a predominantly Black community in Warren County, North Carolina, rallied against hosting a hazardous waste landfill, President Joe Biden’s top environment official has returned to what is widely considered the birthplace of the environmental justice movement to unveil a national office that will distribute $3 billion in block grants to underserved communities burdened by pollution.

The Houston Health Department said Friday that surface soil samples collected in July around the contaminated Union Pacific rail yard and tested by the department contain dioxin, a highly toxic chemical compound associated with cancer and other severe health risks.

The Biden administration has accepted nearly $190 million in bids from an offshore oil and gas lease sale that was held nearly a year ago but rejected by a federal judge.

During the Trump administration, the Environmental Protection Agency exempted a proposed oil export terminal off the Texas coast from air pollution requirements. This week it rejected the permit because of pollution concerns.

For at least the third time in a dozen years, portable toilets are parked outside the ornate Mississippi Capitol because Jackson’s water system is in crisis.

The Environmental Protection Agency says it's designating two “forever chemicals” used in cookware, carpets and firefighting foams as hazardous substances.

A federal infrastructure bill signed last year provides $15 billion to help communities find and replace lead water pipes.

A coalition of environmental groups is suing the Environmental Protection Agency over its refusal to regulate some older coal ash dumps.

Harris County Attorney Christian D. Menefee, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and other local leaders will address the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s recent announcement that it will investigate the Texas Commission on Environment Quality (TCEQ)’s concrete batch permitting criteria and processes under federal civil rights laws.

The Environmental Protection Agency is warning residents who live near medical sterilizing plants in 13 states and Puerto Rico about potential health risks from emissions of ethylene oxide, a chemical widely used in their operations.

Emissions are reacting with the summer heat to create high levels of smog, hazardous air pollution that damages the lungs. But state officials are pushing back on ozone pollution controls proposed by the EPA, arguing such rules would compromise the electric grid.

It's hot and gas prices remain high. That means your air-conditioner is working hard -- even when you do use our handy-dandy trick of using the recirculate button in your vehicle.

The Supreme Court’s latest climate change ruling could dampen efforts by federal agencies to rein in the tech industry, which went largely unregulated for decades as the government tried to catch up to changes wrought by the internet.

The Supreme Court decision Thursday to limit how the Environmental Protection Agency may regulate carbon dioxide emissions could make an already grave situation worse for those most affected by air pollution and climate change, community residents and advocates fear.

President Joe Biden’s hope for saving the Earth from the devastating effects of climate change may not be dead.

The Supreme Court ruling limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants could have far-reaching consequences for the energy sector.

The Supreme Court’s new climate change ruling is likely to hinder the Biden administration’s plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade and make the electric grid carbon-free by 2035.

The high court said a cap on power plants’ carbon dioxide emissions that forces a transition to other fuels may be a “sensible” solution to the climate crisis, but that Congress did not give the Environmental Protection Agency the broad authority to make such requirements. Texas was one of 17 states that joined in the suit.

In a blow to the fight against climate change, the Supreme Court has limited how the nation’s main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.

In a matter of days, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on a case that could have heavy environmental impact, West Virginia vs. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Supreme Court has rejected Bayer’s appeal to shut down thousands of lawsuits claiming that its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says he's pushing airlines to hire more customer-service agents and take other steps to help travelers this summer.

A federal appeals court has rejected a Trump administration finding that the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup does not pose a serious health risk and is “not likely” to cause cancer in humans.

The Environmental Protection Agency is warning that two nonstick and stain-resistant compounds in drinking water pose health risks at levels so low they cannot currently be detected.

The Biden administration has set new requirements that increase the amount of ethanol that must be blended into the nation’s gasoline supply.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed handing more power to states and tribes to block major energy projects based on water quality concerns.

Benzene is a known human carcinogen, according to the EPA. The Texas refineries were among a dozen industrial plants in the U.S. that emitted the highest levels of the chemical in 2021.

Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis and clean air advocates called on President Joe Biden and the Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday morning to enact safeguards to reduce pollution from the W.A. Parish Generating Station and other power plants in Texas.

The Houston and Dallas regions may soon be designated as “severe” violators of federal smog rules, which would prompt more aggressive regulations.

The Biden administration says it will suspend a federal rule that bars higher levels of ethanol in gasoline during the summer.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule to finally ban asbestos, a carcinogen still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products that kills thousands of Americans every year.

Upholding a Trump-era environmental policy, the Environmental Protection Agency says it will not regulate a drinking water contaminant that has been linked to brain damage in infants.

In a 2020 report by the EPA, the agency said “co-locating” the Houston facility to an existing EPA branch in Oklahoma would save $1.8 million annually in lease and facility expenses.

A long-delayed plan to build a giant lake in Northern California has gotten a big boost.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee are seeking an investigation into a U.S. Postal Service plan to replace its aging mail trucks with mostly gasoline-powered vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a plan that would restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with air pollution they can’t control.

The Biden administration is restoring California’s authority to set its own tailpipe pollution standards for cars, reversing a Trump administration policy and likely ushering in stricter emissions standards for new passenger vehicles nationwide.

Federal officials have issued guidance that they say will ensure the country's largest-ever investment in water infrastructure doesn’t bypass disadvantaged communities.

U.S. wildlife officials have reversed their previous finding that a widely used and highly toxic pesticide could jeopardize dozens of plants and animals with extinction.

The Biden administration is proposing stronger pollution regulations for new tractor-trailer rigs that would clean up smoky diesel engines and encourage new technologies during the next two decades.

The Supreme Court is wrestling with the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to curb greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s power plants, a case that could hamstring the Biden administration’s plans to combat climate change.

The Environmental Protection Agency says a U.S. Postal Service plan to replace its huge fleet of mail-delivery trucks has too few electric vehicles and falls short of President Joe Biden's goals to slow global warming.

The Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday announced sweeping measures meant to improve the environmental health of communities throughout the south, including parts of Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens, overwhelmed by a long-known cancer cluster.

The Environmental Protection Agency is taking a series of enforcement actions to address air pollution, unsafe drinking water and other problems afflicting minority communities in three Gulf Coast states.

More than 150 former Environmental Protection Agency employees are writing to the Virginia Senate, asking the Democrat-controlled chamber to oppose the nomination of former EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler to GOP Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin’s Cabinet.

The Environmental Protection Agency is taking its first major action to address toxic wastewater from coal-burning power plants, ordering utilities to stop dumping waste into unlined storage ponds and speed up plans to close leaking or otherwise dangerous coal ash sites.

Navy officials say they believe that contaminated tap water that went to Hawaii military households came from a one-time spill of jet fuel last month.

The Biden administration has lowered annual production requirements for ethanol and other biofuels to account for reduced demand as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.