Items Tagged with 'Southern Environmental Law Center'

Farm groups are asking the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to stop working on a "foundational rule" to define "waters of the U.S" because the Supreme Court has decided to take up the issue.

EPA Administrator Michael Regan has said repeatedly he wants to craft a “durable” definition of “waters of the United States” in the Clean Water Act — one informed by Supreme Court precedent and input from a variety of stakeholders.

Senate Republicans used a confirmation hearing for two high-level nominees to express strong concerns about the Biden administration’s environmental agenda, which prioritizes climate change and environmental justice.

Ag groups are more than happy with the choice of Michael Regan, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality, to be the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, citing his experience working with the farming community in North Carolina and the Biden administration’s extensive outreach to farm groups thus far.

Congressional leaders are looking to pass a massive bill in the next two days to keep the government funded and provide about $900 billion in coronavirus relief. Details of the COVID package had not been released as of Wednesday, but “there’s a sense of urgency for getting this done this week,” said Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois.

The rule replacing the 2015 definition of “waters of the U.S.” is expected in the next few months, but that doesn’t mean federal courts won’t have Clean Water Act cases to deal with in the meantime — and for years to come.

Smithfield Foods and the Environmental Defense Fund are touting the company’s commitment to produce energy from manure on most of Smithfield’s hog farms in North Carolina, Utah and Missouri.