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Battle Builds Over Science Integrity in Environmental Policy [1]

Purges of EPA science panels by Administrator Scott Pruitt are just one among many moves in an ongoing dispute over the integrity of the environmental sciences in government policymaking. The latest Issue Backgrounder takes a deep dive with a briefing on five likely battles ahead for the coming year.

SEJ Publication Types: 
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat: 
Agriculture [3]
Air [4]
Chemicals [5]
Climate Change [6]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Environmental Studies [9]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Policy [13]
Pollution [14]
Science [15]
Technology [16]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [17]
Visibility: 
Public [18]

For Pruitt EPA, There Is No Bad News on Ozone Pollution [19]

Trying to figure out the air quality in your coverage area? The EPA may not be much help. But this week's TipSheet suggests some effective work-arounds for your reporting. Get the backstory on ozone standards, tips on how to track ozone "nonattainment" for your area and learn why smog matters so much to public health.

SEJ Publication Types: 
TipSheet [20]
Topics on the Beat: 
Air [4]
Chemicals [5]
Energy & Fuel [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Policy [13]
Pollution [14]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [17]
California [22]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [23]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [24]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [25]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [26]
Visibility: 
Public [18]

"EPA: Buyout Stories: 'We Are Kind Of Being Hollowed Out'" [27]

"Barbara Aldridge knew it was time to leave U.S. EPA. Now 64, she had worked at the agency for 26 years, restoring wetlands along the Gulf Coast and policing Superfund compliance. But Aldridge's husband died last year, and then the election ushered in the Trump administration — and a reckoning for EPA."

Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [10]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: Greenwire [29], 11/27/2017

"Senate Bill Would Cut EPA Funding By $150M" [30]

"The Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday introduced an Interior Department and environment spending bill that would cut nearly $150 million in funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) next year."

Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [10]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: The Hill [31], 11/21/2017

FOIA Suit, Silence on Hog Farms & Sea-Level Rise, Plus Shield Laws [32]

A push for disclosure on hazardous air emissions from industrial hog farms, and reporting on how the coastal real estate industry works to block bad news about sea-level rise. That, plus the Bay Journal FOIAs the EPA over grant defunding, and a move in Congress towards a federal shield law, all in the latest WatchDog.

SEJ Publication Types: 
WatchDog TipSheet [33]
Topics on the Beat: 
Air [4]
Climate Change [6]
Disasters [34]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [10]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [12]
People & Population [35]
Planning & Growth [36]
Pollution [14]
Waste [37]
Water & Oceans [38]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [17]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [24]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [39]
Visibility: 
Public [18]

EPA Taking More Advice From Industry — And Ignoring Its Own Scientists [40]

"When the Environmental Protection Agency this week proposed repealing tighter emissions standards for a type of freight trucks, it cited research conducted by Tennessee Tech University but underwritten by the biggest truck manufacturer challenging the rule."

Economy & Business [41]
Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [10]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Pollution [14]
Science [15]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: Washington Post [42], 11/13/2017

"Federal Agencies: Law Could Trigger 'Biblical Changing Of The Guard'" [43]

"A little-known law soon could restrict top acting officials across the federal government and possibly leave the Trump administration's coming environmental and energy policy decisions legally vulnerable."

Government [10]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: Greenwire [44], 11/10/2017

"Interior Vacancies Vex Leaders And Lawmakers Alike" [45]

"Key Interior Department vacancies have lingered for an unusually long time, leaving Secretary Ryan Zinke's management team problematically short-handed."

Environmental Politics [8]
Government [10]
Natural Resources [46]
Public [18]
National (U.S.) [17]
Source: Greenwire [47], 11/08/2017

State Clean Water Fund Means Local Projects, Local News [48]

An EPA program that helps pay for municipal water infrastructure is facing Congressional appropriations scrutiny. But with the program looking like it may escape big cuts, it remains a reservoir of reportable local projects. Find out more in the latest TipSheet, plus get state-by-state resources.

SEJ Publication Types: 
TipSheet [20]
Topics on the Beat: 
Consumer [49]
Government [10]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Water & Oceans [38]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [17]
Alaska and Hawaii [50]
California [22]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [51]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [23]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [24]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [52]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [25]
Northwest (OR WA) [53]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [39]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [26]
Visibility: 
Public [18]

Amid the Fog of Policy, Reporting on Pesticide Regulation [54]

Pesticides are a big environmental story. And under Trump, they are much in the news. But pesticide regulation, and its political, environmental and public health fallout, is an older and more complex tale. The Backgrounder explains how the rules work (and don't), and provides leads and resources for your reporting.

 
SEJ Publication Types: 
Backgrounders [2]
Topics on the Beat: 
Agriculture [3]
Chemicals [5]
Economy & Business [41]
Environmental Health [28]
Environmental Politics [8]
Food [55]
Government [10]
Health [11]
Laws & Regulations [12]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [17]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [23]
Visibility: 
Public [18]

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Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/backgrounders/battle-builds-over-science-integrity-environmental-policy [2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/backgrounders [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/agriculture [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmentalists [10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health [12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/policy [14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/science [16] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/technology [17] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [18] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [19] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/pruitt-epa-there-no-bad-news-ozone-pollution [20] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/tipsheet [21] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [22] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/california [23] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-plains [24] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [25] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northeast [26] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest [27] https://www.sej.org/headlines/epa-buyout-stories-we-are-kind-being-hollowed-out [28] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [29] https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060067223 [30] https://www.sej.org/headlines/senate-bill-would-cut-epa-funding-150m [31] http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/361250-senate-bill-would-cut-epa-funding-by-150m [32] https://www.sej.org/publications/watchdog-tipsheet/foia-suit-silence-hog-farms-sea-level-rise-plus-shield-laws [33] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication/watchdog-tipsheet [34] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [35] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population [36] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/cities-towns [37] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste [38] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [39] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast [40] https://www.sej.org/headlines/epa-taking-more-advice-industry-%E2%80%94-and-ignoring-its-own-scientists [41] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [42] https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/epa-is-taking-more-advice-from-industry--and-ignoring-its-own-scientists/2017/11/10/aa1fbaba-b8fb-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.7fbac7692415 [43] https://www.sej.org/headlines/federal-agencies-law-could-trigger-biblical-changing-guard [44] https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060066181 [45] https://www.sej.org/headlines/interior-vacancies-vex-leaders-and-lawmakers-alike [46] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [47] https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060065875 [48] https://www.sej.org/publications/tipsheet/state-clean-water-fund-means-local-projects-local-news [49] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/consumer [50] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/alaska-and-hawaii [51] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-lakes [52] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mountain-west [53] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest [54] https://www.sej.org/publications/backgrounders/amid-fog-policy-reporting-pesticide-regulation [55] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/food [56] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government?page=188 [57] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government?page=185 [58] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government?page=186 [59] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government?page=187 [60] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government?page=190 [61] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government?page=191 [62] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government?page=192 [63] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government?page=193 [64] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government?page=304