Regulation
Customer Impacts From Waxman’s Cap & Trade? Let’s Not Exaggerate
In Wednesday’s New York Times, Felicia Barringer reports on pocketbook concerns related to the Waxman-Markey carbon cap and trade proposal as expressed by parishioners at St. Louis’ Greater Mount Carmel Baptist Church. The article contains the following statement, attributed to a representative from the local electric utility: “Jaime Haro, Ameren UE’s director of asset management …
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CONTINUE READINGCleaning Up the Bush EPA’s Dry Cleaning Rule
The Washington Post reported that EPA “is reconsidering whether to compel dry cleaners to phase out a cancer-causing chemical used in tens of thousands of operations nationwide.” In 2006, the Bush Administration issued an air toxics rule for professional dry cleaners using perchloroethylene in which it tightened technology requirements, but refused to phase out use …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009–A Macro and Micro View
I’d like to follow up on Sean Hecht’s recent posting concerning Congressional passage and President Obama’s signing into law of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009. This massive bill designates two million acres of wilderness in nine states as permanently off-limits to development, and increases the number of river miles protected under the …
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CONTINUE READINGWaxman bill on state cap-and-trade efforts
I’ve been reading the Waxman-Markey energy and climate discussion draft released earlier in the week (and blogged about by Rick here). One thing I’m puzzling over is the draft’s treatment of state cap and trade regulations. As many have noted, the question of which state climate efforts are saved and which are preempted is an …
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CONTINUE READINGGetting Serious About Toxicity Testing
Most of the products we use everyday contain chemicals that have never undergone meaningful health and safety testing. That statement is hardly controversial; most folks on all sides of the continuing debate over chemical policy reform accept it as accurate. Yet there is controversy over whether such testing should be required as a routine matter …
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CONTINUE READINGAnother one bites the dust (RIP Cannon nomination)
Ann touted the nomination of Jon Cannon to be EPA Deputy Administrator here as “a great appointment,” but last week he became the most recent Obama nominee to fall. Here’s the WSJ coverage. His withdrawal is being met with real sadness in many quarters. At a conference of public and private bar environmental lawyers in Los Angeles on Friday, Cecilia Estolano, CEO of the LA Community …
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CONTINUE READINGHUD and DOT, sitting in a tree…
The two federal agencies that should go together like peas and carrots are finally making moves. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a new joint task force to identify strategies to link affordable housing with transportation and to create sustainable communities. The task force will …
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CONTINUE READINGLubchenco on scientific integrity
Shortly after her confirmation as NOAA administrator, Jane Lubchenco sat for an interview (subscription required) with Science and Nature. Asked about her priorities, she listed science at the top (others include ending overfishing, getting NOAA’s satellite program back on track, establishing a National Climate Service, and protecting and restoring ocean ecosystems). When pressed to expand …
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CONTINUE READINGEPA asserts itself on mountaintop removal mining
EPA is finally flexing its muscle on mountaintop removal mining, taking on the Corps of Engineers and stepping in for states that have been reluctant to attack the practice. Mountaintop removal mining involves blasting the tops off of mountains, typically in Appalachia, to get at coal. The ecological problems are less about removal of the …
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CONTINUE READINGAction on Nano-regulation Likely in California This Year
On March 19, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) hosted its third symposium on nanotechnology. The symposium featured speakers from industry, government, the NGO community, and academia and focused upon potential regulatory approaches for dealing with health and environmental effects of nanotechnology. In his remarks, Assemblyperson Mike Feuer announced his intent to introduce …
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