China, US and the environment - Page 5

IN PROCESS

11. Proposed rules to end federal requirements that oil and gas companies install technology to inspect for and fix methane leaks from wells, pipelines and storage facilities.
E.P.A.
12. Proposed weakening Obama-era fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks. The proposal also challenges California’s right to set its own more stringent standards, which other states can choose to follow.
E.P.A. and Transportation Department
13. Announced intent to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. (The process of withdrawing cannot be completed until 2020.)
Executive Order
14. Proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which would have set strict limits on carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. In April 2019, the E.P.A. sent a replacement plan, which would let states set their own rules, to the White House for budget review.
Executive Order; E.P.A.
15. Proposed eliminating Obama-era restrictions that in effect required newly built coal power plants to capture carbon dioxide emissions.
E.P.A.
16. Proposed a legal justification for weakening an Obama-era rule that limited mercury emissions from coal power plants.
E.P.A.
17. Proposed revisions to standards for carbon dioxide emissions from new, modified and reconstructed power plants.
Executive Order; E.P.A.
18. Began review of emissions rules for power plant start-ups, shutdowns and malfunctions. In April, the E.P.A. filed an order reversing a requirement that 36 states follow the emissions rule.
E.P.A.
19. Proposed relaxing Obama-era requirements that companies monitor and repair methane leaks at oil and gas facilities.
E.P.A.
20. Proposed changing rules aimed at cutting methane emissions from landfills. In May, 2019, a federal judge ruled against the E.P.A. for failing to enforce the existing law and gave the agency a fall deadline for finalizing state and federal rules. E.P.A. said it is reviewing the decision.
E.P.A.
21. Announced a rewrite of an Obama-era rule meant to reduce air pollution in national parks and wilderness areas.
E.P.A.
22. Weakened oversight of some state plans for reducing air pollution in national parks. (In Texas, the E.P.A. rejected an Obama-era plan that would have required the installation of equipment at some coal-burning power plants to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.)
E.P.A.
23. Proposed repealing leak-repair, maintenance and reporting requirements for large refrigeration and air conditioning systems containing hydrofluorocarbons.
E.P.A.

Drilling and extraction

COMPLETED
24. Made significant cuts to the borders of two national monuments in Utah and recommended border and resource management changes to several more.
Presidential Proclamation; Interior Department
25. Rescinded water pollution regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands.
Interior Department
26. Scrapped a proposed rule that required mines to prove they could pay to clean up future pollution.
E.P.A.
27. Withdrew a requirement that Gulf oil rig owners prove they could cover the costs of removing rigs once they have stopped producing.
Interior Department
28. Approved construction of the Dakota Access pipeline less than a mile from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. Under the Obama administration, the Army Corps of Engineers had said it would explore alternative routes.
Executive Order; Army
29. Revoked an Obama-era executive order designed to preserve ocean, coastal and Great Lakes waters in favor of a policy focused on energy production and economic growth.
Executive Order
30. Changed how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission considers the indirect effects of greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews of pipelines.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
31. Permitted the use of seismic air guns for gas and oil exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. The practice, which can kill marine life and disrupt fisheries, was blocked under the Obama administration.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
32. Loosened offshore drilling safety regulations implemented by the Obama administration following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. The revised rules include reduced testing requirements for blowout prevention systems.
Interior Department

IN PROCESS
33. Completed preliminary environmental reviews to clear the way for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Congress; Interior Department
34. Proposed opening most of America’s coastal waters to offshore oil and gas drilling, but delayed the plan after a federal judge ruled that Mr. Trump’s reversal of an Obama-era ban on drilling in the Arctic Ocean was unlawlful.
Interior Department
35. Lifted an Obama-era freeze on new coal leases on public lands. But, in April 2019, a judge ruled that the Interior Department could not begin selling new leases without completing an environmental review. A month later, the agency published a draft assessment that concluded restarting federal coal leasing would have little environmental impact.
Executive Order; Interior Department
36. Repealed an Obama-era rule governing royalties for oil, gas and coal leases on federal lands, which replaced a 1980s rule that critics said allowed companies to underpay the federal government. A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s repeal. The Interior Department is reviewing the decision.
Interior Department
37. Proposed “streamlining” the approval process for drilling for oil and gas in national forests.
Agriculture Department; Interior Department
38. Ordered review of regulations on oil and gas drilling in national parks where mineral rights are privately owned.
Executive Order; Interior Department
39. Recommended shrinking three marine protected areas, or opening them to commercial fishing.
Executive Order; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
40. Ordered review of regulations on offshore oil and gas exploration by floating vessels in the Arctic that were developed after a 2013 accident. The Interior Department said it was “considering full rescission or revision of this rule.”
Executive Order; Interior Department
41. Approved the Keystone XL pipeline rejected by President Barack Obama, but a federal judge blocked the project from going forward without an adequate environmental review process. Mr. Trump later attempted to side-step the ruling by issuing a presidential permit, but the project remains tied up in court.
Executive Order; State Department

Infrastructure and planning
COMPLETED

42. Revoked Obama-era flood standards for federal infrastructure projects, like roads and bridges. The standards required the government to account for sea-level rise and other climate change effects.
Executive Order
43. Relaxed the environmental review process for federal infrastructure projects.
Executive Order
44. Revoked a directive for federal agencies to minimize impacts on water, wildlife, land and other natural resources when approving development projects.
Executive Order
45. Revoked an Obama executive order promoting “climate resilience” in the northern Bering Sea region of Alaska, which withdrew local waters from oil and gas leasing and established a tribal advisory council to consult on local environmental issues.
Executive Order
46. Revoked an Obama executive order that set a goal of cutting the federal government’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent over 10 years.
Executive Order
47. Reversed an update to the Bureau of Land Management’s public land use planning process.
Congress | Read more
48. Withdrew an Obama-era order to consider climate change in managing natural resources in national parks.
National Park Service
49. Restricted most Interior Department environmental studies to one year in length and a maximum of 150 pages, citing a need to reduce paperwork.
Interior Department
50. Withdrew a number of Obama-era Interior Department climate change and conservation policies that the agency said could “burden the development or utilization of domestically produced energy resources.”
Interior Department
51. Eliminated the use of an Obama-era planning system designed to minimize harm from oil and gas activity on sensitive landscapes, such as national parks.
Interior Department
52. Eased the environmental review processes for small wireless infrastructure projects with the goal of expanding 5G wireless networks.
Federal Communications Commission
53. Withdrew Obama-era policies designed to maintain or, ideally improve, natural resources affected by federal projects.

Interior Department

IN PROCESS
54. Proposed plans to streamline the environmental review process for Forest Service projects.
Agriculture Department

Animals

COMPLETED

55. Opened nine million acres of Western land to oil and gas drilling by weakening habitat protections for the sage grouse, an imperiled bird with an elaborate mating dance.
Interior Department
56. Overturned a ban on the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on federal lands.
Interior Department
57. Overturned a ban on the hunting of predators in Alaskan wildlife refuges.
Congress
58. Ended an Obama-era rule barring hunters on some Alaska public lands from using bait to lure and kill grizzly bears.
National Park Service; Interior Department
59. Withdrew proposed limits on the number of endangered marine mammals and sea turtles that people who fish could unintentionally kill or injure with sword-fishing nets on the West Coast. In 2018, California issued a state rule prohibiting the use of the nets the rule was intending to regulate.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
60. Amended fishing regulations for a number of species to allow for longer seasons and higher catch rates.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
61. Rolled back a roughly 40-year-old interprentation of a policy aimed at protecting migratory birds, potentially running afoul of treaties with Canada and Mexico.
Interior Department
62. Overturned a ban on using parts of migratory birds in handicrafts made by Alaskan Natives.

Interior Department

IN PROCESS

63. Proposed stripping the Endangered Species Act of key provisions.
Interior Department | Read more
64. Proposed relaxing environmental protections for salmon and smelt in California’s Central Valley in order to free up water for farmers.
Executive Order; Interior Department | Read more
Toxic substances and safety

COMPLETED

65. Narrowed the scope of a 2016 law mandating safety assessments for potentially toxic chemicals, like dry-cleaning solvents and paint strippers. The E.P.A. will focus on direct exposure and exclude air, water and ground contamination.
E.P.A. | Read more
66. Reversed an Obama-era rule that required braking system upgrades for “high hazard” trains hauling flammable liquids, like oil and ethanol.
Transportation Department | Read more
67. Removed copper filter cake, an electronics manufacturing byproduct comprised of heavy metals, from the “hazardous waste” list.
E.P.A. | Read more
IN PROCESS
68. Rejected a proposed ban on chlorpyrifos, a potentially neurotoxic pesticide. In August 2018, a federal court ordered the E.P.A. to ban the pesticide, but the agency is appealing the ruling.
E.P.A. | Read more
69. Announced a review of an Obama-era rule lowering coal dust limits in mines. The head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said there were no immediate plans to change the dust limit, but the review is continuing.
Labor Department | Read more
Water pollution

COMPLETED

70. Revoked a rule that prevented coal companies from dumping mining debris into local streams.
Congress | Read more
71. Withdrew a proposed rule aimed at reducing pollutants, including air pollution, at sewage treatment plants.
E.P.A. | Read more
72. Withdrew a proposed rule requiring groundwater protections for certain uranium mines.
E.P.A. | Read more
73. Weakened federal rules regulating the disposal and storage of coal ash waste from power plants. (A second phase of this rollback is still under way.)
E.P.A. | Read more

IN PROCESS
74. Proposed rolling back protections for certain tributaries and wetlands that the Obama administration wanted covered by the Clean Water Act.
E.P.A.; Army | Read more
75. Delayed by two years an E.P.A. rule regulating limits on toxic discharge, which can include mercury, from power plants into public waterways.
E.P.A. | Read more
76. Ordered the E.P.A. to re-evaluate a section of the Clean Water Act and related guidance that allows states to reject or delay federal projects – including pipelines and other fossil fuel facilities – if they don't meet local water quality goals.
Executive Order; E.P.A. | Read more
Other

COMPLETED

77. Prohibited funding environmental and community development projects through corporate settlements of federal lawsuits.
Justice Department | Read more
78. Announced intent to stop payments to the Green Climate Fund, a United Nations program to help poorer countries reduce carbon emissions.
Executive Order | Read more
79. Reversed restrictions on the sale of plastic water bottles in national parks desgined to cut down on litter, despite a Park Service report that the effort worked.
Interior Department | Read more
IN PROCESS
80. Proposed limiting the studies used by the E.P.A. for rulemaking to only those that make data publicly available. (The move was widely criticized by scientists, who said it would effectively block the agency from considering landmark research that relies on confidential health data.)
E.P.A. | Read more
81. Proposed repealing an Obama-era regulation that nearly doubled the number of light bulbs subject to energy-efficiency standards set to go into effect next year.
Energy Department | Read more
82. Proposed changes to the way cost-benefit analyses are conducted under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other environmental statutes.
E.P.A. | Read more
83. Proposed withdrawing efficiency standards for residential furnaces and commercial water heaters designed to reduce energy use.
Energy Department | Read more
84. Initially withdrew then delayed a proposed rule that would inform car owners about fuel-efficient replacement tires. (The Transportation Department has scheduled a new rulemaking notice for 2020.)
Transportation Department | Read more