Laws & Regulations

"WASHINGTON -- In a setback to the U.S. government's long-running policy of converting abandoned railroads into public trails, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled for a Wyoming property owner who objected to a plan to extend a pathway across his land."

"WASHINGTON -- A report due to be released Tuesday aims to offer an object lesson to President Barack Obama: Free trade deals have high costs in unintended consequences for the environment, people's way of life, and local sovereignty."

"As Japan marks the third anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, Tepco is struggling to find a solution for hundreds of thousands of tonnes of contaminated water."

"OTTAWA — Canada’s energy producers received a rare boost in their efforts to expand the market for oil sands bitumen on Thursday when the country’s National Energy Board approved the reversal of a Canadian pipeline."

"The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the company for evidence of criminal wrongdoing in a massive coal ash spill. But this comes too late for some North Carolina residents, who feel abandoned by regulators."

"ST. LOUIS — A national environmental group has made good on its promise to sue a St. Louis-based utility regarding what it calls thousands of violations of federal clean air laws."

"One of the nation’s biggest coal companies will pay a record civil penalty and will spend tens of millions of dollars to clean up water flowing from mines in five states, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department announced on Wednesday."

"Since the 1990s, a vast body of research has linked BPA and other chemicals found in plastics to serious health problems, ranging from cancer to infertility. But the industry—often using tactics pioneered by Big Tobacco as it sought to bury evidence about the health risks of smoking—has managed to shield these substances from federal regulation. How did Big Plastic bring regulators to heel?"