EPA Given More Time on Climate Comments
From: Politico “EPA has until August to hand over scientific information to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility under a previous court order related to its FOIA request on comments Pruitt made during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” where he said human ...
More Bayview, Hunters Point Residents Added To $27 Billion Suit Against Tetra Tech
From: SF Gate “Attorneys representing 38,000 residents of San Francisco’s Hunters Point and Bayview neighborhoods in a lawsuit against Tetra Tech, the firm hired by the U.S. Navy to rid the area’s former shipyard of toxic waste, said today they’ve added more than 2, ...
Judge gives EPA deadline for studies backing Pruitt’s claims
From: Greenwire “In her decision Friday rejecting EPA’s full request for additional time, Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia admonished the agency for rehashing “already-rejected arguments” and dragging its feet on ...
Internal Watchdog Just Dinged The Park Service Director For ‘Inappropriate’ Workplace Conduct
From: HufF Post “The Interior Department’s internal watchdog released a report Thursday describing an inappropriate gesture made by the National Park Service director in department headquarters. While Paul Daniel Smith is unlikely to be punished over the incident, the case ...
OpEd – EPA Head Must Ignore the Flak and Continue to Drop More Bombs”
From: Moultrie News / OpEd “One of the reasons for the increase in the attacks against Pruitt is his April 30 introduction of “Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science,” a new EPA rule saying that no scientific research study may be used for environment and energy policy ...
Wildlife Protection Groups File Federal Suit Over Endangered Black Bear
From: Jurist/em> “Environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia against the US Department of the Interior for its removal of the Louisiana black bear from the endangered species list. The groups argue the move is a ...
Southern Environmentalists Sue Over Black Bear
From: Courthouse News Service “A group of Southern environmental groups claims the Louisiana black bear is in danger after the U.S. Department of the Interior booted it from the endangered species list. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, The Sierra Club Delta Chapter ...
Pruitt Proposes Weakening EPA’s Power Over Water Polluters
From: Eco-Watch “In a memo dated June 26 but released June 27, Pruitt asked the EPA’s Office of Water and Regional Administrators to draft a proposal that would restrict the agency’s ability to revoke permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) allowing ...
Environmental Groups File Lawsuit to Protect La. Black Bear
From: WBRZ “Multiple organizations have filed a lawsuit in an effort to protect the Louisiana black bear. According to a release, the lawsuit was filed Thursday by a coalition of conservation groups led by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility with co-counsel Atchafalaya ...
Internal Watchdog Just Dinged the Park Service Director for “Inappropriate” Workplace Conduct
From: Mother Jones “The Interior Department’s internal watchdog released a report Thursday describing an inappropriate gesture made by the National Park Service director in department headquarters. While Paul Daniel Smith is unlikely to be punished over the incident, the case ...
Pruitt Acts to Yield Some EPA Power Over Mining
From: WBAL “In a memo released Wednesday by the EPA, Pruitt directs the agency to study renouncing part of its authority under the half-century-old Clean Water Act to veto permits that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or states grant to allow dumping waste into waterways. Pruitt&# ...
Meet the Government Chemist Who Spent 36 Months on Paid Leave Before He Was Fired
From: Government Executive “In terms of his profession, Daniel Horowitz has been a political prisoner these past three years but rather than being released he was executed,” said Ruch, arguing that Sutherland wasted several hundred thousand dollars of taxpayer funds by her fear of ...
Pruitt Acts to Yield Some EPA Power Over Mining, Development
From: Sun Herald “Kyla Bennett, a former EPA official now with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility nonprofit, said the proposal would weaken one of the few tools the agency has when it comes to limiting environmental harm from mining and other development around ...
EPA Requests More Time to Find Backing for Pruitt’s Claims
From: E&E News “EPA wants more time to comply with a court order requiring it to hand over scientific records backing Administrator Scott Pruitt’s claims about climate change. The agency yesterday filed a motion seeking to extend the court’s deadline by more than a ...
Labor Groups Seek Quick Ruling Requiring CSB Reporting Regulation
From: Inside OSHA Online “The promulgation of a reporting regulation is a discrete action required by law. In addition to the plain language of the statute confirming this non-discretionary duty, there have been four independent reviews from three different oversight bodies declaring ...
EPA Ordered to Back Up Administrator’s Climate Statement
From: EHS Daily Advisor “In her opinion, Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell noted that more than a year after PEER submitted its request the EPA had not even conducted a search for the requested materials. Howell further agreed with PEER that the EPA was in violation with the FOIA. ...
Report: EPA’s Criminal Investigation Agents Dwindle as Emissions Fight Continues
From: News Wheel “A report by environmental advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has raised concerns that the Environmental Protection Agency, which is currently embroiled in a bitter conflict with California and a collection of other states over vehicle ...
UNITED STATES: PS complaints tribunal suspended
From: PSNews “Senior Counsel for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Paula Dinerstein said that through its inattention, the White House had caused a merit system train-wreck in which whistleblower protections and other safeguards were functionally nullified. ...
House Democrats Call Upon Zinke To Explain Forced Transfer of Dan Wenk
From: Mountain Journal “In a letter sent to Zinke Friday, June 22, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman of California, who serves as the Democrat’s vice-ranking member of the committee, wrote, “we are concerned that this particular reassignment, in the context of a pattern of questionable ...
EPA’s Criminal Enforcement Numbers Are Dropping Under Pruitt
From: Government Executive “At a time when the Environmental Protection Agency has tripled the number of bodyguards for the administrator, the agency’s cases brought against polluters is in “free fall,” according to a study released on Thursday by the advocacy group Public ...