EPA entered into a proposed settlement agreement under the CWA and the APA in Gunpowder Riverkeeper v. Regan, No. 1:20-cv-02063 (D.D.C.), concerning allegations that the Agency's approval of Maryland’s submission of TMDLs of PCBs for the Gunpowder and Bird Rivers was arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration proposed to amend its existing regulations to better protect mine workers against occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica, a carcinogenic hazard, and to improve respiratory protection for all airborne hazards.
USDA, on behalf of the Administration’s Greenhouse Gas Monitoring and Measurement Interagency Working Group (GHG IWG), seeks comment on the draft interagency report entitled, Federal Strategy to Advance Greenhouse Gas Measurement and Monitoring for the Agriculture and Forest Sectors (Strategy), to inform the GHG IWG, and agencies' planning and implementation of an agriculture and forestry monitoring, measurement, reporting, and verification framework and near-term activities.
NOAA revised its Consultation Handbook describing procedures for government-to-government consultation with federally recognized Indian tribes, and updated an associated NOAA Administrative Order (NAO 218-8) and the Indigenous Knowledge guidance.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service proposed and seeks comment on changes to certain conservation practice standards in the National Handbook of Conservation Practices.
With passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and Water Resources Development Act of 2022, the statutory landscape has changed to reflect the Biden Administration’s emphasis on environmental justice. On February 27, 2023, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) and ELI’s Pro Bono Clearinghouse co-hosted a panel of experts who explored how communities can leverage the statutory changes that have taken place, what decisions have been left up to agencies, and how proposed legislation, like the Environmental Justice for All Act, will affect future environmental justice efforts.
DOI, acting through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, proposed to modify its criteria for determining whether oil, gas, and sulfur lessees, right-of-use and easement grant holders, and pipeline right-of-way grant holders may be required to provide bonds or other financial assurance above the current regulatorily prescribed base bonds to ensure compliance with their Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act obligations.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration proposed amendments to its hazardous materials regulations to require all railroads to generate in electronic form, maintain, and provide to first responders, emergency response officials, and law enforcement personnel, certain information regarding hazardous materials in rail transportation to enhance emergency response and investigative efforts.
EPA seeks comment on implementation of a plan to ensure that farmworkers have access to bilingual pesticide labeling by December 2025 under the Pesticide Registration Improvement Act of 2022.
EPA seeks comment on the draft Cumulative Risk Assessment (CRA) Guidelines for Planning and Problem Formulation, which describe steps for the planning and problem formulation of CRAs and offer guidelines for when they could be appropriate.