Laws & Regulations

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A year after a toxic leak contaminated drinking water for 300,000 residents, West Virginia lawmakers are considering a series of proposals that would weaken a new chemical tank safety law, remove stronger pollution protections for streams across the state, and protect the coal industry from enforcement actions over violations of water quality standards."

"Anadarko Petroleum Corp., a minority investor in BP's failed Macondo well, is on the hook for federal pollution fines for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, regardless of whether the company was responsible for the disaster, a federal judge said Monday (Feb. 2)."

"A few years back, U.S. EPA enforcement agents tracked a Utah environmental fugitive to a trailer parked at a marina in the Florida Keys. Larkin Baggett, one of EPA's 'most wanted' criminals at the time, appeared in the trailer doorway sweeping an assault rifle toward the approaching EPA agents and local cops, saying things like, 'I won't go,' according to court documents. The officers opened fire, wounding Baggett and taking him into custody."

"A pipeline that ruptured recently in North Dakota and spilled nearly 3 million gallons of saltwater produced during oil drilling wasn't inspected by the state before being installed, according to state regulators."

"The U.S. Forest Service adopted a rule on Wednesday that requires managers of the nation’s nearly 200 forests and grasslands to formally designate where snowmobiles can be operated on the 193 million acres of public land the agency oversees."

"Oklahoma’s highest court is about to make a decision that could really shake up the way fracking companies do business in the state."

Labor unions and environmentalists say the ultra-secret Trans Pacific Partnership trade treaty could nullify U.S. laws meant to protet Americans. They oppose the administration's bid for "fast-track" authority to present it to Congress on a take-it-or-leave it basis."

"Three powerful accidents in recent years highlight weaknesses in the oversight of how natural gas providers maintain the largest pipelines in their networks, accident investigators said today as they issued more than two dozen safety recommendations."