Posted inResearch & Developments

EPA to Cancel Nearly 800 Environmental Justice Grants

The EPA plans to cancel 781 grants, almost all focused on environmental justice, according to a court document filed last week.

In Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council v. Department of Agriculture, a coalition of nonprofits is challenging the Trump administration’s freezing of funding from the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In the recent court document, Daniel Coogan, an administrator in the Office of Mission Support for the EPA, stated that the agency completed a grant-by-grant review of its awards to ensure that grants aligned with administration priorities. Those that were not aligned were targeted for termination.

Posted inResearch & Developments

Trump Administration Moves to Weaken PFAS Rules

President Donald Trump’s EPA is considering a rule that would weaken regulations limiting chemicals harmful to human health in consumer goods, The Guardian reports.

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a group of chemicals added to consumer products, oftentimes for their water- and stain-resistant properties. Exposure to PFAS is known to raise the risk of certain cancers, kidney and liver disease, and complications surrounding reproductive health. The chemicals are omnipresent in everyday life and contaminate drinking water across the United States.

Posted inResearch & Developments

Trump Administration Plans to Fire More Than 1,000 EPA Scientists

The Trump Administration plans to fire more than 1,000 scientists in the EPA’s research arm. The layoffs are part of a “reduction in force” that comes after the agency already fired hundreds of probationary workers. (A federal judge has since ordered that these employees be reinstated, and though the administration has complied, most of the workers have been placed on administrative leave.)