Energy/Environment

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is coming down in favor of a deal to reform the country's toxic chemical laws.

In a letter to Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and David Vitter (R-La.), the writers of the new bill, the business group's executive vice president for government affairs, Bruce Josten, says the organization "strongly supports" the new proposal. 

Released last week, the bill from Lautenberg and Vitter would give new power to the Environmental Protection Agency to test chemicals, forces it to review high priority chemicals and screen new substances entering the market. The law also would require that the agency's actions and determinations be transparent.

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A senior House Republican floated legislation Thursday to extend offshore drilling to Atlantic and Pacific coastal regions President Obama excluded from his five-year oil and gas leasing plan.

The bill from House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) is similar to the one that passed the House last year, largely with Republican votes.

“The Obama Administration has said ‘no’ to new energy and ‘no’ to new jobs, but House Republicans are once again saying ‘yes.’ This legislation is a pro-energy, pro-jobs plan that will strengthen our economy and increase our energy security by responsibly and safely harnessing our vast offshore energy resources,” Hastings said in a Thursday statement.

The oil and gas industry is pushing back against an expected Obama administration rule to tighten smog standards that public health groups say could save thousands of lives.

Cities and towns are still struggling to comply with a 2008 standard, the industry argues, and any new regulations could amount to the equivalent of "closed-for-business signs" across as much as 97 percent of the places Americans live.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) first proposed new standards for ozone pollution in 2010, but the White House overrode the agency and delayed the standards, a decision met with scorn by environmental and public health groups.

The chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee thinks a Southern Californian electric company misled regulators about the safety of a nuclear power plant.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) wants the Justice Department to investigate whether Southern California Edison lied about the state of a closed Pendleton, Calif., facility to avoid a full safety review.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extending the public comment period on draft gasoline and vehicle emissions rules that the refining industry alleges the EPA is ramming through without enough input.

The agency is extending the comment period by 18 days — from June 13 until July 1 — on draft rules that will force refiners to sharply cut the sulfur content of gasoline.

The EPA unveiled the rules in late March, but published them just last week in the Federal Register, a step that formally opened the comment period.

The extension announced Tuesday wasn't enough to satisfy the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group that opposes the rules and says the formal comment period should be 90 days.

The federal government is adding more than three dozen Hawaiian plants and animals to the list of endangered species as result of an environmental group's legal action.

Thirty-five new plants and three tree snails should be protected, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said in a rule to be published on Tuesday. 

The action will prevent unauthorized possession, sale or transport of the species and allows the agency to protect their critical habitat.

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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should be investigated for the way it estimates new costs stemming from regulations and requirements, according to two prominent Republicans.

In a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the lawmakers express suspicion of the cost analysis measures used by the federal nuclear watchdog.

Rumors have long swirled that Obama might link approval of the pipeline to policies aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

The Obama administration wants new regulations for mills that turn wood into pulp.

On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish in the Federal Register a proposal governing plants that use chemicals to break down wood chips into a mush that can be used to make paper. 

Legislators in the Senate are unveiling a bipartisan agreement to update federal toxic chemical regulations, though environmental groups are responding with mixed emotions.

Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and David Vitter (R-La.) on Wednesday released an agreement to update the Toxic Substances Control Act, the consumer safety law passed in 1976.

The bill, which has the support of 14 other senators from both parties, gives new powers to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and lays out a clearer path for bringing new chemicals to the market.