EPA

Many cities have older lead service lines connecting homes to the water system.

Lead in the drinking water is still a problem in the U.S. — especially in Chicago

5:00am April 01, 2024

by Pien Huang

The Windy City has the most lead pipes of any U.S. city. A study estimates that more than two-thirds of children there are exposed to lead in their home tap water.

Morning traffic fills the SR2 freeway in Los Angeles, California. The EPA released new rules for vehicle emissions that are expected to cut tailpipe pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, which are fueling climate change.

In a boost for EVs, EPA finalizes strict new limits on tailpipe emissions

5:09pm March 20, 2024

The Biden administration says it is imposing the "strongest-ever" tailpipe emission rules to protect public health and fight climate change.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a challenge from GOP-led states and industry groups seeking to block the EPA's "good neighbor" provision, which is designed to reduce smog and air pollution.

Politics & Government

Supreme Court will hear challenge to EPA's 'good neighbor' rule that limits pollution

5:00am February 21, 2024

by Carrie Johnson

The justices will consider whether to hit pause on a federal rule designed to reduce air pollution that drifts across states and can cause health troubles.

A flare burns natural gas at an oil well on Aug. 26, 2021, in Watford City, N.D. Oil and natural gas companies would have to pay a fee for methane emissions that exceed certain levels under a new rule proposed by the Biden administration.

EPA proposes a fee aimed at reducing climate-warming methane emissions

5:09pm January 12, 2024

by The Associated Press

The new fee is intended to encourage the oil and gas industry to lower emissions of methane and thereby avoid paying.

A flare burns off methane and other hydrocarbons as oil pumpjacks operate in the Permian Basin in Midland, Texas, Oct. 12, 2021.

Environment

EPA aims to slash the oil industry's climate-warming methane pollution

7:10am December 02, 2023

by Jeff Brady

New EPA rules require oil and gas companies to slash climate-changing methane from their operations.

Lead water pipes pulled from underneath the street in Newark, N.J., in 2021.

Biden administration proposes strictest lead pipe rules in more than three decades

8:49am November 30, 2023

by The Associated Press

Most cities would have to replace lead water pipes within 10 years under new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency aimed to prevent like the ones in Flint, Mich. and Washington, D.C.

Emissions from a coal-fired power plant are silhouetted against the setting sun in Kansas City, Mo., on Feb. 1, 2021. The Environmental Protection Agency is tightening rules that limit emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants from coal-fired power plants, updating standards imposed more than a decade ago.

The EPA proposes tighter limits on toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants

5:48pm April 05, 2023

by The Associated Press

The rules would lower emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants that can harm brain development of young children and contribute to heart attacks and other health problems in adults.

Trucks line up to enter a Port of Oakland shipping terminal on Nov. 10, 2021, in Oakland, Calif. President Joe Biden's administration cleared the way for California's plan to phase out a wide range of diesel-powered trucks, a part of the state's efforts to drastically cut planet-warming emissions and improve air quality in heavy-traffic areas.

Environment

The EPA approves California's plan to phase out diesel trucks

8:11pm March 31, 2023

by The Associated Press

The agency's decision allows California — which has some of the nation's worst air pollution — to require truck manufacturers to sell more zero-emission trucks over the next couple of decades.

Michael Regan, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, at an event in 2021. The Biden administration is announcing a plan to regulate "forever chemicals" in drinking water.

EPA moves to limit toxic 'forever chemicals' in drinking water

11:25am March 14, 2023

by The Associated Press

The EPA proposed limiting the amount of harmful "forever chemicals" in drinking water to the lowest detectable levels, a move it said will save thousands of lives and prevent serious illnesses.

A great egret flies above a great blue heron in a wetland inside the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge in Trenton, Mich., on Oct. 7. The Biden administration has announced a finalized rule for federal protection of hundreds of thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways.

The EPA finalizes a water-protection rule that repeals Trump-era changes

3:08pm December 30, 2022

by The Associated Press

The Biden administration finalized regulations that protect small streams, wetlands and other waterways, repealing a Trump-era rule that environmentalists said left waterways vulnerable to pollution.