U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Repealed power-plant carbon standards in September 2026

U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide emissions are on track to fall about 1.5% in 2026, the Energy Information Administration forecast in October. EIA's own figures show emissions also fell in 2023 and 2024 before rising 2.6% in 2025. The Global Carbon Project puts the U.S. drop at 1.3%, with output back near 1991 levels. EIA puts most of its forecast drop on lower coal use, then less gasoline and diesel; the Global Carbon Project ties the U.S. drop to the Iran war's oil shock, which raised fuel prices and cut consumption.

Updated Yesterday

Raised civil rights concerns about the relocation in 2021.

A metal shredder built along the Calumet River has sat idle since Chicago denied its operating permit in 2022. On Nov. 6, an Illinois appellate court upheld that denial, keeping the Southside Recycling facility closed and sending the company toward the state's highest court.

Updated 5 days ago

Coordinates federal response to the sewage crisis

The federal contract for the South Bay plant's first expansion phase reached $552 million in October, and the PCL-Stantec team is preparing to dig. PCL said in mid-October that shoring, dewatering and excavation of the new primary treatment structures would begin within weeks, with substantial completion scheduled for May 2031.

Updated 7 days ago

Plaintiff; secured $100M penalty after seeking $140M

A federal judge ordered DTE Energy and three subsidiaries to pay $100 million for sulfur dioxide pollution from the Zug Island coke plant, finding the parent companies liable as operators even though EES Coke Battery has no employees of its own. DTE appealed, and in July Judge Gershwin Drain refused to pause compliance while that appeal runs.

Updated Oct 28

Won at the Tenth Circuit; its May 2025 approval of Oklahoma's authority stands

The Tenth Circuit ruled 2-1 on Oct. 16 that Oklahoma can run federal environmental programs on tribal lands, rejecting the Pawnee Nation's challenge. The decision leaves state agencies, not tribal governments, as the main regulators for air and waste permits in much of eastern Oklahoma.

Updated Oct 26

Finalized rescission of Endangerment Finding and vehicle GHG standards; defending against multi-state lawsuit

The Transportation Department's final fuel-economy rule, published September 28, sets the 2031 fleetwide target at 34.9 miles per gallon, down from 50.4 under President Biden. It also rewrites standards for model years 2022 through 2026 and ends the credit trading that let automakers buy and sell efficiency gains, starting in 2028.

Updated Oct 24

Loan-fund authorizations lapsed Sept. 30; renewal is pending in the water bill

The House passed its version of Congress's water bill on Sept. 16 by 415 votes to 9. The Senate committee version, which renews the federal loan funds behind local water systems, still has not reached the Senate floor.

Updated Oct 23

Funding source

Kent ISD now runs 10 electric school buses, paid for with a $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and $2.3 million from the state of Michigan. Dean Transportation, which operates the district's buses, applied for the money and installed the chargers.

Updated Oct 20

Lead agency in the WOTUS rulemaking

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opened a second public comment period in September on a rule that would sharply narrow which wetlands the Clean Water Act protects. That 30-day window closed October 9, after drawing fire from 19 state attorneys general and praise from homebuilders and farm groups.

Updated Oct 16

As of October 2026: Defending the repeal in court

Six public health and environmental groups filed suit September 17 to block the Environmental Protection Agency's repeal of carbon pollution limits for power plants. On October 1, 21 states and several cities, led by New York, filed their own challenge in the same court.

Updated Oct 2

As of September 2026: Phasing out PCE in dry cleaning over 10 years

The solvent that removes grease and stains from dry-cleaned clothes is in the blood of 7% of Americans. A new study finds these people are three times more likely to have significant liver fibrosis - the scarring that precedes cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Updated Sep 8

As of September 2026: Enforces Safe Drinking Water Act; oversees Jackson's water

A divided federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee clean drinking water, or truthful reports about contamination, from public officials. The September 4, 2026 en banc decision in Sterling v. City of Jackson affirms dismissal of a lawsuit over lead in Jackson, Mississippi's municipal water supply.

Updated Sep 8

As of September 2026: Awarded $2M brownfields grant for the district

Artspace, the nonprofit that seeded Salt Lake City's Rio Grande arts scene, celebrated the reopening of its first building on September 3. The 62-unit complex at 511 West 200 South—now renamed Norbridge Court—underwent a full renovation with new interiors, a mural, and remade commercial spaces.

Updated Sep 6

As of July 2026: Issuing the air quality readings behind state alerts

On July 16, smoke from hundreds of Canadian wildfires spread across the northern United States. Air quality alerts covered 19 states and more than 120 million people. Parts of Michigan hit the "hazardous" rating, the worst category the U.S. index has.

Updated Jul 17

As of July 2026: Regulator that registered ZAP males as a biopesticide

In early June, a Silver Spring pest-control company began releasing male mosquitoes across the Washington, D.C. region. The insects carry a bacterium that leaves the females they mate with unable to produce offspring that hatch.

Updated Jul 9

As of June 2026: Lost ruling on program-wide termination

Community groups in Baltimore, Nashville, and San Diego were promised federal money to clean up pollution and cool overheated neighborhoods. On June 12, a federal judge ruled the EPA broke the law when it cut off the entire $2.8 billion program.

Updated Jun 13

As of June 2026: Sets the federal drinking-water rules driving compliance costs

American Water paid $315 million on June 1 for 47,000 customer connections that Nexus Water Group held across eight states. The deal closes one mid-size piece of a broader sell-off: small water systems shedding compliance-heavy assets to investor-owned utilities.

Updated Jun 5

As of May 2026: Defendant in wave of federal lawsuits over endangerment revocation

The EPA's February 2026 revocation of its 2009 endangerment finding ended federal greenhouse gas authority, but the rollbacks kept coming. By May 2026, the agency had also repealed mercury protections for coal plants, relaxed refrigerant deadlines for businesses, and sent a final rule to the White House budget office to erase power plant emissions standards.

Updated May 30

As of May 2026: Publishes annual U.S. greenhouse gas inventory including forest carbon

American forests have stored more carbon over the past two decades than at any point in the last century. A new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that forest age is the primary driver, locking in 89 million metric tons of carbon annually as trees reach peak growth stages. Climate factors (temperature, precipitation, and elevated carbon dioxide) add another 66 million metric tons per year.

Updated May 29

As of May 2026: Primary enforcement body for lead regulations

For most of the twentieth century, Americans inhaled roughly two pounds of lead per person annually from car exhaust alone. A new University of Utah study analyzing century-old hair samples documents the scale of this unintentional mass poisoning—and the reversal that followed. Lead concentrations in human hair dropped from 100 parts per million before the 1970s to less than 1 part per million today, a 100-fold decline documented through specimens preserved in family scrapbooks.

Updated May 27

As of May 2026: Issued the May 2026 extension rule

The Environmental Protection Agency gave HVAC contractors an extra year on Tuesday to install commercial air-conditioning equipment that uses older, higher-warming refrigerants. The final rule covers variable refrigerant flow systems manufactured or imported before January 1, 2026, and pushes the installation cutoff out to January 1, 2027.

Updated May 26

As of May 2026: Monitoring air quality, advising on chemical behavior

The risk of a catastrophic explosion is gone, and 50,000 displaced residents were cleared to go home. OCFA Interim Chief TJ McGovern announced Monday that the BLEVE (vapor explosion) risk 'is now off the table' — the tank cooled from 100°F to 93°F and its crack released built-up pressure.

Updated May 25

As of May 2026: Administering LCRI; first compliance milestone November 1, 2027

Pennsylvania American Water confirmed $631 million in 2026 capital spending during Infrastructure Week. That was the largest single-state disclosure in the American Water Works rollout so far. Tennessee American Water followed with $40 million, closing out a week that began with Illinois's $290 million announcement on May 18.

Updated May 19

As of May 2026: Sets NPDES eReporting requirements; builds tools; approves state deadline extensions.

For years, Clean Water Act reporting has lived in a split-screen world: core discharge numbers went digital, but paperwork stayed stuck in PDFs, emails, and filing cabinets. Phase 2 of EPA's NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule aims to close that gap, with a December 21, 2025 compliance date.

Updated May 16

As of May 2026: Permitting authority for Class VI CO2 injection wells relevant to CRC’s CCS plans

The CRC–Berry all-stock combination is now in the paperwork-and-plumbing phase. CRC's post-close 8-K confirms Berry is a wholly owned subsidiary and discloses an amendment raising CRC's elected credit-facility commitments to $1.46 billion. CRC has 71 days to publish pro forma financials for the combined company.

Updated May 15

As of May 2026: Rewriting and delaying key vehicle pollution and climate rules under Trump‑appointed leadership

The EPA isn't killing Biden's vehicle pollution rules outright. It plans to keep looser 2026 standards in place for two extra model years instead of enforcing tougher limits on smog-forming pollution starting in 2027.

Updated May 11