News Clips

Chemical Safety Board Narrowing Scope of Advice After Accidents (1)

by | October 24, 2018
From: Bloomberg Environment “Investigators at a small federal agency that examine major industrial disasters are focusing on the most relevant safety recommendations—a change from past practice, an agency official said Oct. 23. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, ...

Petersburg Assembly Votes Down Timber Resolution

by | October 17, 2018
From: KFSK “The timber sale problems were highlighted by the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, a nationwide watchdog group based in Silver Spring, Maryland. PEER published the 2016 Forest Service review of the sales and sued the agency for documents ...

US EPA’s Response for Evidence to Support Pruitt’s Climate Views Lacking

by | October 16, 2018
From: S&P Global “Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, found that the statements “stand in contrast to published research and conclusions of the EPA” and therefore submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, for the EPA to ...

Plans for Crumb Rubber Fields Concerns Prince William Board Member

by | October 15, 2018
From: Inside NoVa “In 2013, the EPA retracted its prior safety assurances about of rubber tire turf fields, according to PEER. PEER became involved in the issue after an EPA toxicologist enlisted the nonprofit’s help in urging the agency to perform a risk assessment, Jeff Ruch, ...

Bill Freeman: Scott Lacks Integrity, Environmental Concern

by | October 15, 2018
From: Ocala Star Banner “On the environment, Scott says “look over there,” stating that Nelson has not done enough at the federal level to solve Florida’s environmental problems. But what did “Red Tide” Rick do? He has presided over major repeals of environmental protections ...

Arizona Park Rangers Face Constant Dangers

by | October 12, 2018
From: AZ Family “Before recruits are given a badge, they must pass both law enforcement training, as well as certain survival skills. Should a particularly dangerous call come in, dispatchers are required to check-in with a ranger every few minutes. For their part, Rangers are also ...

EPA Search for Pruitt-Cited Climate Studies Comes Up Dry

by | October 11, 2018
From: Government Executive “Nineteen months after it received a nonprofit’s Freedom of Information Act request, the Environmental Protection Agency has responded with a small batch documents that seem to undercut former Administrator Scott Pruitt’s hint of internal agency studies ...

Chemical-Safety Board Is Cutting Back Under Trump

by | October 11, 2018
From: Wall Street Journal “Industry groups say the work of the chemical safety board is essential. The American Chemistry Council said its members “find considerable value in the CSB’s work—especially the reports and materials generated by the board as part of its investigations ...

This Oil Lobbyist Is the Real Power Behind Trump’s Interior Department

by | October 9, 2018
From: Mother Jones “Late last year, associate deputy secretary Jim Cason, a Bernhardt lieutenant, reassigned at least 27 executives without much explanation or a paper trail, including several high-level staffers with portfolios in climate change and conservation. Clement, a climate ...

New Mexico Bears the Brunt of D.C.’s Environment Decisions

by | October 8, 2018
From: NM Political Report “The administration’s attack on public lands—from rolling back monuments which are sacred to pueblos and tribes in New Mexico, to leasing oil and gas near Chaco Canyon without public input or tribal consultation—will do irreparable damage to our most ...

Trump Administration Promises to Staff Up Police on Public Lands After Announcing Major Cuts

by | October 8, 2018
From: Government Executive “After the dual function employees are decommissioned, FWS will have 230 full-time officers. PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch called that insufficient, noting there are 562 refuges in the national system. “Refuge law enforcement is already critically ...

Falsified Soil Samples To Stalled Development: Hunters Point Shipyard Mired In Ongoing Controversy

by | October 8, 2018
From: BisNow San Francisco “San Francisco’s largest redevelopment in over 100 years is becoming one of its most controversial developments. Hunters Point, also known as San Francisco Shipyard, and the nearby Candlestick Point, the site of the former 49ers stadium, have been lauded as a ...

An Inside Look at How Trump Turned the EPA into an Industry Subsidiary

by | October 4, 2018
From: Yale Environment 360 “Elizabeth Southerland had a distinguished, 30-year career at the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during which she held numerous senior positions, including director of science and technology in the Office of Water. So she had a front-row seat early ...

White House Ends Law Enforcement Program at Wildlife Refuges

by | October 4, 2018
From: Courthouse News Service “Wildlife refuge managers, the people who police illegal hunting, fishing, trapping and pollution, among other stewardship duties, are being phased out, according to an internal memo obtained by a federal watchdog. Public Employees for Environmental ...

Wildlife Refuges Eliminate Part-Time Law Enforcement Officers

by | October 4, 2018
From: The Missoula Current “The American ideal of the friendly public-land ranger still persists, complete with Smoky Bear hat and horse companion. But by the end of this year, the reality will forever change on national wildlife refuges, leaving those lands with a little less protection ...

Trump Administration Abruptly Ends Key Law Enforcement Program at Wildlife Refuges

by | October 2, 2018
From: The Hill “The nation has 562 national wildlife refuges spread across 20.6 million acres of public land. Unlike national parks, mining, drilling, hunting and farming are all regulated activities on certain refuges. “Our dual-function officers were an integral aspect of refuge ...

Helicopter Noise Suit Goes to Appeals

by | October 2, 2018
From: West Hawaii Today “The lawsuit seeks an injunction for the FAA to implement the Air Tour Management Plan over Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, something both the FAA and the National Park Service has failed to do for 18 years despite Congressional legislature, said Bob Ernst, ...

Trump Admin Touts Children’s Health Programs Amid Questions About Ousting Top Scientist

by | October 2, 2018
From: ABCNews “”Children’s health is a top priority at EPA, and we have made tremendous progress improving air and water quality and helping kids and families lead healthier lives,” Wheeler said in a statement Monday. Advocacy groups, however, say they have doubts about the ...

EPA Makes Changes at Research, Child Health Offices

by | September 28, 2018
From: CNN “Michael Halpern with the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has opposed other Trump administration moves, said combining the offices would bury a once-influential position “deep inside one specific part of EPA.” In past administrations, the science advisor has ...

US Government Officials Visit, Learn About Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes

by | September 28, 2018
From: Char-Koosta News “CSKT employees were escorted off the National Bison Range by armed officials and locked out pending an investigation of the claims. CSKT Vice Chairman Leonard Grey worked as a volunteer at the time and recalled his experience to Sweeney. “It was truly an insult ...
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