Most U.S. cities would have to replace lead water pipes within 10 years under strict new rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the Biden administration moves to reduce lead in drinking water and prevent public health crises like the ones in Flint, Michigan and Washington, D.C. It is the most stringent overhaul of lead rules in more than three decades, and its implementation is estimated to cost billions of dollars. The proposal, called the lead and copper rule improvements, would for the first time require utilities to replace lead pipes even if lead levels do not exceed current standards. The push to reduce lead in tap water is part of a broader federal effort to combat lead exposure that includes proposed stricter limits on dust from lead-based paint in older homes and child-care facilities and a goal to eliminate lead in aviation fuel. The public will have a chance to comment on the proposal. EPA expects to publish a final version of the rule in 2024.
A federal judge has awarded Pomona $30 million to close the book on the city’s protracted legal battle over contaminated drinking water. For years, the city has fought to hold SQM North America, a global mining company, accountable for importing fertilizer that contained perchlorate, which the city says leeched into its drinking water wells. According to the lawsuit, the city’s drinking water wells were contaminated by perchlorate found in fertilizer commonly used in citrus groves, and SQM North America was the sole importer of the fertilizer until 1968.
States and urban areas will be required to set goals to reduce carbon emissions from cars and trucks on their roads under a new federal rule issued last Wednesday as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to link tens of billions of dollars in highway funding from the infrastructure law to its environmental priorities. The rule, issued by the Federal Highway Administration, has the backing of environmentalists and leaders in some Democratic-led states who say it’s an important recognition of how funding road construction tends to encourage more driving and higher emissions. The proposal has faced fierce opposition from many state transportation agencies which argue they have limited options to meet their goals and dispute the federal government’s legal authority to set a binding rule.
EPA on November 21 opened up $2 billion in grants for projects in lower-income communities overburdened by pollution and vulnerable to climate change. The objective of the projects is to bolster the resilience of these communities to climate impacts and strengthen their ability to monitor air and water quality. The Community Change Grants represent the single largest investment in environmental justice by an administration to date. EPA identified five target investment areas where it hopes to receive applications: Alaska tribal areas; continental U.S. tribal land; territories such as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam; small and rural areas that lack fixed, legally determined geographic boundaries; and areas along the southern border with Mexico.
A recent lawsuit alleges that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) stood in the way of stream channel maintenance for more than five years, which may have led to flooding that caused severe damage in Merced County. The lawsuit relies in part on a series of emails between several Merced agencies, who were seeking a permit agreement to clear stream beds of the Black Rascal, Bear and Miles creeks, and CDFW. The lawsuit was filed against CDFW on behalf of the City of Merced, a local elementary school, and 12 agricultural interest groups, all of which claimed to have sustained significant damage in 2023 from flooding after water backed up in clogged waterways and broke through or overtopped creek banks and levees.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has issued four notices of violation to Chevron in connection with a flaring episode at its Richmond refinery on Monday. Three of the alleged violations were for visible emissions and one was for a public nuisance, an air district spokesperson said. People across the Bay Area reported heavy smoke and flames coming from at least three smokestacks. Chevron said a partial power failure caused the flaring.
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