National (U.S.)

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday tightened standards for how much lead can remain as dust on surfaces such as floors and window sills after lead removal activities, in a move that environmentalists said doesn't go far enough."

"In a blunt deregulatory maneuver, the Trump Administration in its waning days is attempting to adopt a regulation that, if finalized, would have a cataclysmic effect on the public health and consumer protection regulatory landscape."

"Late Friday night, GenOn Holdings, Inc. announced the retirement of the company’s Morgantown coal-fired power plant located in Charles County, MD on the Potomac River."

"A group of environmental and union organizations on Friday challenged a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency policy that would allow phosphogypsum wastes that contain small amounts of radioactivity to be used in federal, state and local road construction projects."

"An ambitious plan by Eastern states for a regional cap-and-trade program to curb greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks got off to a slow start Monday after just three states — Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island — plus Washington, D.C., formally agreed to adopt it."

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rationale for freezing air quality regulations was “not scientifically defensible” before the agency finalized the rule earlier this month."

"Many observers see Biden's Council on Environmental Quality nominee as a sign that he will prioritize redoing the National Environmental Policy Act rules — not only to undo President Trump's recent changes but also to boost requirements on issues like climate change."

"The most substantial federal investment in green technology in a decade includes billions for solar, wind, battery storage and carbon capture. Congress also agreed to cut the use of HFCs, chemicals used in refrigeration that are driving global warming."

"Officials have taken the extraordinary step of closing the Washington Monument starting Friday as a precaution after Interior Secretary David Bernhardt — who gave a private, nighttime tour to other Trump appointees this week — tested positive for the coronavirus."

"The Department of Energy's nuclear weapons office and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are the latest agencies swept up in a staggering hack of global computer networks."