Halliburton Destroys Evidence Related to Gulf Oil Spill, Pleads Guilty

On July 25, energy services giant Halliburton agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence related to the investigation of the 2010 BP/Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. The company will pay a fine of $200,000, will be on probation for the next three years, and will make a voluntary contribution of $55 million to a wildlife conservation charity. Halliburton will also continue to cooperate in the U.S. Department of Justice's ongoing criminal investigation into the rig explosion and oil spill that killed 11 workers, polluted vast swaths of the U.S. Gulf Coast, and killed and injured untold numbers of sea birds and marine mammals.

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Success of EPA Climate Standards Will Depend on White House Support

Back in June, President Obama announced a bold plan to address climate change. Now that Gina McCarthy has finally been confirmed as the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), advocates are counting on the agency to move quickly on the president's promises.

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White House Recognizes Higher Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

In May, the Obama administration increased the "social cost of carbon," a monetized estimate of damage caused by carbon emissions that is used to analyze the impacts of certain standards, by roughly 60 percent. Updated to reflect new scientific modeling, the new figure may help agencies implement tougher standards to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.

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Sen. Blumenthal Urges New OMB Director to Release Needed Rules and Improve Transparency

On May 7, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) urging the agency to end excessive delays in reviewing crucial health and safety protections. Echoing the concerns of public interest and safety advocates, Blumenthal wrote "that there are human costs to delay" and asked newly appointed OMB Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell to immediately complete reviews of several proposed agency actions.

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Court Says FDA Failed to Comply with Food Safety Rule Deadlines

This week, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California concluded that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by failing to comply with specific deadlines for food safety rules, which were set out in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). For a number of major food safety regulation areas, FDA failed to meet the dates set for completion. Although some of the rules were proposed in January, many remain under review at FDA or the White House.

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President Obama’s Budget Proposal Assumes Flawed Poultry Inspection Rule Will Be Finalized

Yesterday, the president released the proposed budget for funding the federal government in Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) assumes savings from finalizing a controversial proposed rule to change the way chickens and other poultry are inspected in processing plants.

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EPA Reaches Clean Air Settlement with Tyson Foods

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice announced a settlement with Tyson Foods, Inc., along with several of its affiliates, over violations of the Clean Air Act that occurred between 2006 and 2010.  These violations included the accidental release of toxic anhydrous ammonia in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri that resulted in property damage, multiple injuries to workers, and one death. 

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President Obama Nominates Former Clean Air Director to Lead EPA

Yesterday, President Obama nominated Gina McCarthy to head the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). McCarthy served as an assistant administrator leading EPA's air and radiation programs during Obama's first term. Environmental groups applauded the choice, though McCarthy's historically strong stance on clean air standards could make her a target during confirmation proceedings.

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Stronger Standards for Hazardous Chemicals Benefit the Public and Spur Innovation

Stronger standards for hazardous chemicals not only protect human health and the environment, but can also spur innovation and benefit the economy. A recent report, Driving Innovation: How stronger laws help bring safer chemicals to market, examined the impact of laws governing hazardous chemicals and found that the prospect of stricter laws on toxic chemicals sparked the invention, development, and adoption of alternatives. The demand for these alternatives is growing globally.

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New Web Tool Provides Easy Tracking of Rulemaking Comments

A new online tool allows users to better follow the rulemaking process and monitor the public comments agencies receive on proposed rules. Docket Wrench, launched by the Sunlight Foundation, provides access to more than 3.5 million regulatory documents. The tool is intended to help the public follow the influence of special interests in the rulemaking process by tracking and grouping their comments.

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