clean water act

‘Sick Joke’: House Agriculture Committee Advances Farm Bill Attacking Environment, Endangered Species

‘Sick Joke’: House Agriculture Committee Advances Farm Bill Attacking Environment, Endangered Species

The House Agriculture Committee passed H.R. 2, the 2018 Farm Bill, Wednesday on a party-line basis. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), includes dozens of poison-pill riders that would gut fundamental environmental safeguards. Most significantly it would completely exempt the use of pesticides from the Endangered Species Act, effectively dooming hundreds of endangered […]

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    EPA Blocks Clean Water Rule to Replace With ‘Industry-Friendly’ Alternative

    EPA Blocks Clean Water Rule to Replace With ‘Industry-Friendly’ Alternative

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) put a two-year suspension on the Clean Water Rule, an Obama-era policy defining which waters can be protected against pollution and destruction under federal law. Last year, President Trump declared the 2015 law, also known as Waters of the United States (WOTUS), “a horrible, horrible rule,” tasking EPA Administrator […]

    The Pebble Mine Is Too Toxic Even for the Trump Administration

    The Pebble Mine Is Too Toxic Even for the Trump Administration

    In a stunning reversal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it is suspending its effort to reverse an Obama-era plan to restrict mining in Bristol Bay, Alaska based on a controversial mine project’s risks to the region’s important salmon fisheries and natural resources. The unexpected move from President Trump’s pro-business administration was a blow […]

    EPA Delays Lead and Copper Rule Again, Promises ‘War on Lead’

    EPA Delays Lead and Copper Rule Again, Promises ‘War on Lead’

    By Brett Walton The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pledged that lead regulations will be a prominent feature of the agency’s work in 2018—but that work will take longer than anticipated. The agency expects that a revision to federal rules that are designed to reduce the risk of lead in drinking water […]

    Pruitt Appears in Big Beef Video Urging Farmers to Kill Clean Water Rule

    Pruitt Appears in Big Beef Video Urging Farmers to Kill Clean Water Rule

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt appears in a video sponsored by the beef industry calling on farmers and ranchers to file official comments on a proposal to withdraw and rewrite the Obama-era “Waters of the United States” rule (or WOTUS) before the Aug. 28 deadline. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) video […]

    Buffalo Pipeline Leaks 19,000 Gallons of Crude Oil on Farmland in Oklahoma

    Buffalo Pipeline Leaks 19,000 Gallons of Crude Oil on Farmland in Oklahoma

    The Buffalo Pipeline, owned by Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline, L.P., leaked approximately 450 barrels, or roughly 18,900 gallons, of crude oil onto farmland in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma last week. Wheat farmer and cattle rancher Steve Pope told local TV station KFOR that he has lost an estimated 120 acres of pasture and wheat crop […]