As the Trump administration last week began its rollback of the Clean Water Rule, reporters are likely to see many more stories about wetlands permitting — especially on the local level. The latest TipSheet walks you through the Section 404 permitting maze and helps you find out what's happening in your locale and state.
"A federal appeals court refused Friday (March 3) to revive the east bank levee authority's controversial lawsuit charging oil and gas companies with threatening hurricane levees by digging exploration and production canals through Louisiana's coastal wetlands. It was the latest setback to the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East's four-year effort to make the companies pay for environmental damage inflicted decades ago."
"The Trump administ"ration is seeking to slash the budget of one of the government’s premier climate science agencies by 17 percent, delivering steep cuts to research funding and satellite programs, according to a four-page budget memo obtained by The Washington Post."
New evidence for the "anthropocene" -- scientists have found human activity is responsible for an explosion in the diversity of minerals on Earth.
"On his first full day in office, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issued orders to expand access to public lands and revoke restrictions on lead ammunition and fishing tackle."
"To feed an enormous building boom, India’s relentless sand miners have devastated the waterways that make life there possible."
"Leaders from the nation's largest Native American reservation and pueblos throughout New Mexico are putting more pressure on federal land managers to curb oil and gas development in the northwest corner of the state."
Bobby Magill, in his most recent SEJ President's Report, recalls his time traversing federal wilderness areas that are now increasingly the subject of dispute. How are they to be used? Who is to hold them? Will these vast Western lands remain in the public domain? And what is the role of journalists in covering this story?
California's Oroville Dam has been in the news this month, as it threatened to fail, flooding nearby communities. But worsening dam safety is a national story with local angles throughout the United States. TipSheet runs down the risks and the resources, plus offers upcoming news hooks for dam stories in your community.
"The phone calls started almost as soon as President Trump signed his executive order, making official his pledge to build a wall to separate the United States from Mexico."
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