EPA is renewing its bid to end environmental and public health groups’ efforts to obtain a court ruling on the merits of their petition asking EPA to ban drinking water fluoridation because of human health risks, in a case testing a little-used section of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) shortly after the court denied EPA’s appeal to delay a trial.
September 17, 2026
OSHA is floating a proposal to revise Obama-era standards for occupational exposure to beryllium and beryllium compounds in the construction and shipyards industries, saying the changes will better tailor the standards for the two sectors’ unique exposures and also improve the agency’s overall enforcement of beryllium limits.
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A federal judge has once again handed a blow to EPA in its effort to defend its denial of public health advocates’ petition urging the agency to ban drinking water fluoridation, in this instance denying EPA’s request to delay the trial schedule by 65 days to extend limited expert discovery, a request the judge considered unnecessary and prejudicial to the plaintiffs.
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A House Energy and Commerce Committee panel has advanced on a primarily partisan basis a bill to ban all uses of asbestos and a package of 13 bills to deal with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), although the asbestos legislation could ultimately drive chlorine producers to use PFAS as a replacement to asbestos.
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OSHA has issued a final rule reversing course on a prior proposal that would have revoked Obama-era occupational exposure standards for construction and shipyards, saying that undoing the standards would be at odds with the agency’s statutory mandate to protect workers from proven significant health risks of exposure to beryllium.
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The White House has approved two OSHA measures aimed at revising portions of the Obama administration’s final beryllium rules for the construction and shipyard sectors but without repealing them, a move that is likely to spark heated opposition and resumed litigation from key industry groups.
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Labor and other groups are threatening to sue EPA over allegations that the agency is inadequately releasing information about new chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), detailing concerns that they will likely urge the agency to address as it prepares to release a new framework for its new chemicals review process.
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EPA has sent to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for pre-publication review its final rule aimed at repealing Obama-era changes that tightened facility safety risk management plan (RMP) requirements, moving ahead on the measure after repeated delays.
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House lawmakers still appear divided on legislation that would reauthorize and strengthen the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) chemical facility safety program as the House Energy and Commerce Committee takes up the issue, though they are pledging to continue working towards an agreement.
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A federal judge appeared skeptical of environmentalists’ landmark efforts to pursue claims against EPA under both the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) when the agency denied their TSCA section 21 petition seeking rules requiring additional asbestos reporting.
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