Pollution

EPA Enforcement Falls to Record Low Under Trump 2.0

The enforcement of environmental laws suffered a dramatic collapse during the Trump administration’s first year, several studies have found. Even the most serious violations, typically referred to the Department of Justice, are left unpursued because of DOJ staffing declines. The latest Backgrounder has the details, a look at the administration’s rationale for the decline and the implications for the environment and public health.

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Trump Approves Federal Emergency Declaration For Potomac River Sewage Spill

"Donald Trump approved a federal emergency declaration Saturday related to a sewer main break north of Washington DC that threatens to put a stink on the US’s 250th anniversary celebrations in the US capital this summer."

Source: Guardian, 02/23/2026

‘Safe’ BPA Substitutes Tied To Infertility, Fetal Harm, Review Finds

"Chemicals increasingly used to replace the toxic plastic additive bisphenol A (BPA) may disrupt fertility, fetal development, and reproductive health through many of the same biological mechanisms, according to a narrative review of human, animal and laboratory studies."

Source: U.S. Right to Know, 02/20/2026

"Pesticide Use And Cancer Risk Rise Together Across America’s Heartland"

"America’s farmers and farmworkers, their families and neighbors, are being diagnosed with cancer at rates higher than the national average. A growing body of research indicates that pesticides are partly to blame."

Source: Investgate Midwest, 02/20/2026

Doctors, Scientists and Kids Sue EPA for Backtracking on Climate Regs

"Two lawsuits filed Wednesday in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals mark the beginning of a rocky legal road for the Environmental Protection Agency following its reversal of a 2009 rule underpinning federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions."

Source: Inside Climate News, 02/20/2026

"E.P.A. Plans to Loosen Mercury Rules for Coal Plants, Documents Show"

"The Environmental Protection Agency plans this week to loosen restrictions on coal-burning power plants, allowing them to emit more hazardous pollutants including mercury, a powerful neurotoxin that can impair babies’ brain development, internal agency documents show."

Source: NYTimes, 02/20/2026

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