assistant administrator

Power shutdowns intended to prevent more devastating California wildfires are raising new concerns about another longstanding environmental threat: air pollution.

Various oat-based products like cereals, trail mixes and snack bars tested positive over the past year for a chemical in a widely used weedkiller that is linked to cancer, according to the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization. While several experts say not to panic, they note that a debate exists over how great a risk the chemical poses to...

The Environmental Protection Agency will allow farmers to resume broad use of a pesticide over objections from beekeepers, citing chemical industry private studies that the agency says show the product is only a lower-level threat to bees and other wildlife. Friday’s EPA announcement makes sulfoxaflor the latest bug- and weed-killer defended by the Trump administration despite lawsuits alleging environmental or...

The Environmental Protection Agency will allow farmers to resume broad use of a pesticide over objections from beekeepers, citing chemical industry private studies that the agency says show the product is only a lower-level threat to bees and other wildlife. Friday’s EPA announcement makes sulfoxaflor the latest bug- and weed-killer defended by the Trump administration despite lawsuits alleging environmental or...

Grieving family members of victims of the Ethiopian air disaster are being given sacks of earth to bury in place of the remains of their loved ones. Officials have begun delivering bags of earth to family members of the 157 victims of the crash instead of the remains of their loved ones because the identification process is going to take...

For more than six decades, the Federal Aviation Administration has relied on employees of airplane manufacturers to do government-required safety inspections as planes are being designed or assembled. But critics say the system, dubbed the “designee program,” is too cozy as company employees do work for an agency charged with keeping the skies safe while being paid by an industry...

Every day many millions of gallons of water loaded with arsenic, lead and other toxic metals flow from some of the most contaminated mining sites in the U.S. and into surrounding lakes and streams without being treated, The Associated Press has found. That torrent is poisoning aquatic life and tainting drinking water sources in Montana, California, Colorado, Oklahoma and at...

Residents and state, local and military officials are demanding that the EPA act quickly — and decisively — to clean up local water systems testing positive for dangerous levels of the chemicals, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. The Trump administration called the contamination “a potential public relations nightmare” earlier this year after federal toxicology studies found that some of...

President Donald Trump on Friday tapped a chemical industry insider to run the Environmental Protection Agency office that oversees emergency response to hazardous spills and cleanups of the nation’s most toxic sites. The White House announced that Trump has nominated Peter C. Wright to serve as EPA’s assistant administrator for Land and Emergency Management. Wright has worked as a corporate...

The Trump administration said Thursday it is rewriting Obama-era rules governing pollution from oil and gas operations and coal ash dumps, moves that opponents say will significantly weaken protections for human health and the environment. The changes proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency are the latest in series of actions taken over the last year to roll back regulations opposed...

The Trump administration is doing away with a decades-old air emissions policy opposed by fossil fuel companies, a move that environmental groups say will result in more pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency issued notice Thursday it is withdrawing the “once-in always-in” policy under the Clean Air Act, which dictated how major sources of hazardous air pollutants are regulated. Under the...

Costco Wholesale Corp. has agreed to pay nearly $12 million to settle Justice Department allegations of lax pharmacy controls over a four-year period.