"Sterigenics is a step closer to reopening its sterilization plant in west suburban Willowbrook, but local officials and community groups are pushing new measures that could drive the company out of town."
"The Justice Department has opened an antitrust inquiry into the four major automakers that struck a deal with California this year to reduce automobile emissions, according to people familiar with the matter, escalating a standoff over one of the president’s most significant rollbacks of climate regulations."
"Air quality regulators on Friday killed a years-long push for stronger regulation of a dangerous acid used at two South Bay refineries that has frightened many neighbors, voting instead to accept a voluntary, oil industry pledge to enhance safety measures."
"Louisiana activists battling a polluting chemical and plastics industry are claiming a victory in a community just outside Reserve, where the Guardian has investigated high cancer rates and toxic emissions from a nearby factory."
"The chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee requested a government watchdog investigate additional details in its ongoing probe of the Interior Department’s new public records policy, which allows political appointees to review and potentially withhold documents from release."
"The FBI yesterday approved anti-government activist Ammon Bundy for purchase of an AR-15 rifle, reversing its initial rejection days after the Idaho resident staged a social media campaign on his quest for a new firearm."
"The Interior Department broke federal spending law when it dipped into national park fees to keep its most popular sites operating during this winter’s partial federal shutdown, the Government Accountability Office concluded Thursday."
"Germany has said it will phase out the controversial weedkiller glyphosate because it wipes out insect populations crucial for ecosystems and pollination of food crops."
"A top Senate appropriator is seeking federal ethics information for former Interior Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Joe Balash, who recently left the department for a job with a foreign oil and gas company."
"President Trump is strongly considering a plan to revoke California’s legal authority to set state tailpipe pollution standards that are stricter than federal regulations, according to three people familiar with the matter."
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