Breaking News

March 28, 2022

New document: Biden requests $11.88 billion budget for EPA with staffing boost

President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2023 budget request includes hiking the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget to $11.88 billion, and priorities for the funds include upgrading water infrastructure and tackling the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.

The budget released March 28 also proposes staffing the EPA with 16,204 full-time equivalents (FTEs), which would be an increase of more than 1,900 FTEs over current levels.

March 24, 2022

Monsanto seeks “emergency” delay for St. Louis trial

Monsanto on Thursday asked a St. Louis judge to delay the start of a trial over claims brought by three men alleging exposure to Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicides, such as the popular Roundup brand, caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Opening statements in the case of Neal v. Monsanto are expected next week. But on Thursday morning Monsanto requested a continuance “due to exigent circumstances.” The company did not detail its reasons in the filing.

March 22, 2022

New document: SEC proposes first-ever climate crisis disclosure rule for public companies

In a move long sought by environmentalists, the Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing regulatory revisions to mandate that public companies disclose some of the financial risks that they face due to the climate crisis, including their own greenhouse gas emissions.

The proposed rule, released March 21 ahead of its publication in the Federal Register, would require a company to disclose information on its climate-related risks and processes for managing those risks; identify how any climate-related risks might have a material impact on the company’s financial statements; detail the ways that such risks are affecting its business plans; and highlight the impact of severe weather and other climate-related events on line items in the company’s financial statements, including estimates and assumptions.

March 10, 2022

Omnibus funding bill offers modest 3.4% funding boost for EPA

Congress is advancing an omnibus spending package for fiscal year 2022 that includes a modest budget increase of 3.4 percent for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which falls short of the larger increase President Joe Biden requested.

The bipartisan spending agreement, which the House approved March 9 and the Senate is expected to pass soon, includes $9.56 billion in FY22 funding for the EPA, an increase of $323 million over 2021. Biden had asked Congress for $11.23 billion for the agency.

March 1, 2022

Justices question scope of EPA’s power to regulate utility greenhouse gases

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on February 28 in a case debating the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Air Act power to regulate greenhouse gases, a case in which the ruling is likely to have significant implications for the Biden administration’s plan to fight the climate crisis.

A West Virginia-led coalition of states wants a ruling from the court that would curtail the EPA’s authority, but faces pushback from the agency and some of its unlikely utility industry allies.