EPA's internal watchdog released a report this morning that found President Trump's first EPA chief made the most appointments to "administratively determined" positions under the Safe Drinking Water Act compared with his recent predecessors."

"A coal company has been dealt another legal blow in its attempt to build an export terminal on the lower Columbia River. The Washington Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling Tuesday that was being challenged by Millennium Bulk Terminals and Northwest Alloys Inc."

"When the Trump administration first pushed to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil exploration, it predicted that drilling would generate a windfall for the federal Treasury: $1.8 billion, by a White House estimate. But two years later, with the expected sale of the first oil and gas leases just months away, a New York Times analysis of prior lease sales suggests that the new activity may yield as little as $45 million over the next decade."

"More than 74,000 wildfires have been detected in the world’s largest rain forest this year, an 84 percent increase from the same period last year, Brazil’s space research center said."

"Environmental groups flocked to court today to fight the Trump administration's new Endangered Species Act regulations, kicking off a high-stakes legal debate over the government's authority to make sweeping changes to how agencies protect rare animals and plants."

"Thousands of people who lived in homes in the mid-2000s made with toxic Chinese drywall, including many in Hampton Roads, may finally get some closure. Taishan Gypsum Co., the Chinese-maker of the drywall that sickened those living inside its walls, has agreed to settle the lengthy legal case for $248 million."

"A New York bill passed this summer would require labeling on menstrual products that lists the ingredients so women can avoid potential toxic exposure."

"The triennial summit of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), that began on Saturday, will tackle disputes over the conservation of great beasts such as elephants and rhinos, as well as cracking down on the exploitation of unheralded but vital species such as sea cucumbers, which clean ocean floors."

"A pair of environmental groups are challenging the Trump administration’s decision to approve use of a bee-killing pesticide on more than 190 million acres of crops."

"President Donald Trump presided over a lengthy Oval Office meeting Monday in which he urged officials to soften the impact of recent policy moves that angered Midwestern farm states critical to his re-election."