"U.S. lawmakers have reached an agreement on the Farm Bill that drops a proposal to tighten food stamps restrictions backed by President Donald Trump, and are looking to vote on it this week, according to congressional staffers."
"A new water rule that will strip federal protections from an estimated 60-90 percent of U.S. waterways will dramatically ease restrictions on how polluting industries do business. ... But oil and gas transport companies may benefit most from the imminent shift."
"Environmentalists are already lining up to slam the Trump administration's definition of which waters are covered by the Clean Water Act, signaling a protracted battle over the proposal that's expected next week."
A deep look at the Mexican city of Mexicali shows a pattern of unchecked pollution leading to illnesses and deaths on both sides of the border.
"In July 2012, a spate of warm weather caused nearly the entire surface of the Greenland ice sheet to begin melting, an event with no precedent in the satellite record. A new study shows this massive melt-out wasn’t just an anomaly compared with the last 40 years, but the last 350. Unfortunately, the study also suggests 2012 could be a harbinger of our new normal."
"The White House is no longer including a distinct chapter on climate change in an overarching plan setting federal priorities on ocean policy for a decade."
"An industrious but finicky pest could be the key to restoring Washington State’s wetlands and salmon populations."
"The Supreme Court has signaled its interest in a potentially game-changing debate over the scope of the Clean Water Act. The justices yesterday invited the Trump administration to weigh in on whether the law applies to pollutants that travel through groundwater before reaching surface water."
The vast and widely used PFAS family of chemicals is causing serious worries across the country, as it turns up in more and more drinking water systems. Pressure to regulate it is also growing, but with mixed results. This week’s TipSheet offers a detailed look-ahead on this big, developing story, with a walk-through of the context, what the EPA is (and isn’t) doing, and why states are stepping up.
"The Trump administration took an important step toward future oil and natural gas drilling off the Atlantic shore, approving five requests allowing companies to conduct deafening seismic surveys that could harm tens of thousands of dolphins, whales and other marine animals, according to studies."
