Biden administration restores the power of states and tribes to review projects to protect waterways
States and Native American tribes will have greater authority to block energy projects such as natural gas pipelines that could pollute rivers and streams under a final rule issued Thursday by the Biden administration.
Environmentalists challenge permitting change in Florida
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. โ A coalition of environmental groups Thursday filed a federal lawsuit challenging a potentially far-reaching move by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to shift permitting authority to Florida for projects that affect wetlands. Florida lawmakers in 2018 overwhelmingly approved a bill that was an initial step in trying to move authority for the permitting from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the state. Supporters of the move praised the EPAโs decision as helping reduce duplicative state and federal permitting and giving Florida more control over such decisions. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Miami Waterkeeper and St. Johns Riverkeeper. The lawsuit raises a series of issues about Floridaโs application and the process the EPA used in approving the shift.
New rule may strip pollution protections from popular lakes
This Sept. 14, 2020 photo shows shows a Duke Energy natural gas-fired electric power plant on Sutton Lake in Wilmington, N.C. It went online in 2013 and replaced a coal-fired plant that had polluted the lake with coal ash. It would provide a source of steam to generate electricity and a place to cool hot water from an adjacent coal-fired plant. Sutton Lake became popular with boaters and anglers, yielding bass, crappie, bluegill and other panfish. But environmental groups challenging the Trump rule in court say it opens up reservoirs like Sutton Lake to similar abuse.
EPA dropped salmon protection after Trump met with Alaska governor
The news came as a "total shock" to some top EPA scientists who were planning to oppose the project on environmental grounds, according to sources. EPA insiders tell CNN that the timing of the agency's internal announcement suggests Trump was personally involved in the decision. Dunleavy met with Trump aboard Air Force One on June 26, as the President's plane was on the tarmac in Alaska. A member of Dunleavy's administration used to work on the Pebble project in public relations. The company's CEO, Collier, also "expressly thanked Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy for his leadership in encouraging EPA to withdraw" its earlier decision.