Media Center

Court Restores Limits on Climate-Polluting HFCs

April 7, 2020 Press ReleaseUnited States

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today ruled that the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency acted illegally in suspending the agency’s limits on the uses of super climate-polluting hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The court restored a prohibition on switching…

Maryland Phasing Out Chlorpyrifos Use

March 20, 2020 Press ReleaseMaryland

The Maryland General Assembly announced that virtually all use of chlorpyrifos—a pesticide linked to learning disabilities in children—will be phased out in the state by the end of 2020, following years of pressure from public health, farmworker and community groups.

Groups Sue EPA Over Yet Another Approval of Glyphosate, Despite Dangers to Humans, Bees and Butterflies

March 20, 2020 Press ReleaseUnited States

The Natural Resources Defense Council and Pesticide Action Network North America today filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s approval of glyphosate, the most widely used pesticide in the United States.

PA Senate Sends Petrochemical Bill to Gov. Wolf’s Desk

March 18, 2020 Press ReleasePennsylvania

The Pennsylvania State Senate today sent HB 1100 – a bill that would give tax breaks to fossil fuel plants that use fracked gas to manufacture petrochemicals – to Governor Wolf’s desk for signature. This comes at a time when…

Court Approves Settlement Requiring EPA Rules on Most Dangerous Chemical Spills

March 13, 2020 Press ReleaseUnited States

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved a consent decree between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a coalition of community and environmental organizations, including the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform (EJHA)…

Michigan Advances Stronger Standards on “Forever Chemicals” in Drinking Water

February 27, 2020 Press ReleaseMichigan

Michigan’s proposed standards to reduce “forever chemicals” contaminating drinking water for millions of people across the state were advanced today in a vote by the Environmental Rules Review Committee (ERRC). The standards now head to the Joint Committee on Administrative…

L.A. City Council Members Aim to Prevent Amazon Deforestation

February 26, 2020 Press ReleaseLos Angeles

Los Angeles City Councilmembers Paul Koretz (5th District) and David Ryu (4th District) presented a motion today to put an end to City purchases of products derived from the deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest. The Councilmembers further called for the…

Cuomo Signs Child Safe Products Act into Law

February 7, 2020 Press ReleaseNew York

Governor Andrew Cuomo today signed the Child Safe Products Act into law, which requires manufacturers to disclose chemicals of concern in children’s products and phases out some of the most toxic chemicals, such as benzene, chlorinated tris and asbestos.

Advocates and Public Pressure Snuffs Out Toxic Chemical Chlorpyrifos

February 6, 2020 Press ReleaseUnited States

According to published news reports, Corteva Inc. will end production of the highly toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos by the end of this year. The company, formerly part of Dow Chemical, has been under increasing scrutiny from environmental and public health advocates…

Trump Administration Formalizes Plans to Degrade Utah Monuments

February 6, 2020 Press ReleaseUtah

The Bureau of Land Management today finalized its plans to open Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah to drilling and other extractive activity. The Trump administration tried to gut these two monuments in December 2017.

Trump EPA Greenlights Continued Widespread Use of Bee-Killing Pesticides, Despite Risks

January 30, 2020 Press ReleaseUnited States

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today issued a proposed decision that greenlights the continued widespread use of neonicotinoid insecticides, commonly known as “neonics,” despite EPA’s own analysis showing risks to bees, other wildlife and human health. The public will…

New BP Toxic Petcoke Operations to Impact Residents of East Chicago Superfund Site

January 29, 2020 Press ReleaseIndiana

Residents of East Chicago, Indiana are bracing for a significant expansion of the transportation of toxic petcoke in a city that has been ravaged by industrial pollution and drinking water contamination.

NRDC Report Reveals Rampant Contamination from Toxic Pesticides in New York State

January 22, 2020 Press ReleaseNew York

New York Water Testing Indicates Very High Probability of Ecosystem-Wide Damage Advocates, Lawmakers Rally at the New York State Capitol Demanding Action on Neonics

Mining Projects to Ride in on Trump’s NEPA Bulldozer

January 15, 2020 Press ReleaseUnited States

Just days after the Trump administration proposed gutting a bedrock environmental law governing infrastructure projects, a new move by a federal permitting council would extend environmental fast-tracking to the mining sector—a sweeping move that will make it easier to build…

Lawsuit Challenges Trump Plan to Frack, Drill 1 Million Acres of California Public Lands, Minerals

January 14, 2020 Press ReleaseCalifornia

Conservation groups sued the Trump administration today challenging the last step in the administration’s plan to allow oil drilling and fracking on more than 1 million acres of public lands and minerals in Central California.

Cuomo Signs Robust PFAS Protections into Law

December 23, 2019 Press ReleaseNew York

Governor Andrew Cuomo today signed into law legislation to phase out the use of toxic chemicals known as PFAS in firefighting foam. PFAS have been found to contaminate a significant portion of New York’s drinking water sources. These “forever chemicals”…

New York State Adopts Paint Recycling Program

December 18, 2019 Press ReleaseNew York

Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday signed the paint recycling legislation, a bill designed to tackle a long-standing solid waste disposal problem by making it possible for business and residents to recycle leftover paint at hundreds of convenient locations throughout the state…

Newark Report Confirms Widespread Misuse of Faucet and Pitcher Filters, Leaving Hundreds or Thousands at Risk from High Lead Levels

November 25, 2019 Press ReleaseNewark

Urgent Need for Better Public Training About Filter Use to Protect Vulnerable Residents From Lead in Drinking Water

NRDC Report: EU Subsidies Lead to Forest Destruction

November 20, 2019 Press ReleaseInternational

European nations are wasting $7 billion a year on subsidies for the burning of wood for power or heat, a notoriously dirty source of energy that the European Union has allowed to be counted as clean energy.

Court Puts EPA in Check on Flawed Toxic Chemical Regulations

November 14, 2019 Press ReleaseUnited States

A federal appeals court in California ruled today that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), when evaluating the risks of toxic chemicals, cannot ignore harmful exposures to asbestos and other chemicals that are still in use, but no longer being manufactured…