The U.S. EPA is facing off with Minnesota's Pollution Control Agency over exempting taconite mining operations from clean-water rules meant to protect wild rice.

"The [Canadian] federal government has quietly approved the use of a highly controversial chemical for dispersing ocean oil spills, despite growing scientific evidence it doesn’t always work as claimed and even intensifies the toxicity of oil."

"Concluding a long legal climb to cleaner air, the federal government Monday announced a record $425-million settlement with two oil refiners that is expected to reduce pollution emissions in the West by almost 43,000 tons annually."

"US Interior Secretary Sally Jewell visited Utah's 'Bears Ears' last week in an attempt to resolve an increasingly contentious debate over whether to designate the San Juan County cultural landscape as a US National Monument."

"Under new rules announced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday, solid waste landfill operators must begin capturing methane emissions from their sites at levels one-third lower than current standards permit."

"A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that the US Navy was wrongly allowed to use sonar in the nation’s oceans that could harm whales and other marine life."

"Making high-quality bio-diesel is hard. Getting paid $100 million to not make it was kind of a snap."

"The House passed a $32.1 billion bill funding the Interior Department and environmental programs next year, the first time the legislation has cleared the House since 2009."

"The House of Representatives voted on Thursday to require the labeling of foods that contain genetically engineered ingredients, clearing the bill’s final obstacle before it heads to the White House, where President Obama is expected to sign it into law."

"A former public water system operator for Sebring in northeastern Ohio was charged on Wednesday with misdemeanor crimes for failing to notify the public about lead contamination in some tap water in the town, the state's attorney general said."