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Big PFAS Bill Likely Off the Table. Advocates Say That’s OK

/in , , /by /E&E Newsby Ariana Figueroa

This year’s National Defense Authorization Act will almost certainly not carry broad chemical cleanup and drinking water mandates. Now lawmakers focused on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are looking for alternative vehicles as the election nears and the congressional calendar shrinks. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and her allies did not convince the Rules Committee this month to allow a vote on the “PFAS Action Act,” H.R. 535 as an amendment to the House NDAA.

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Opinion: Nevada Should Challenge Utah’s Move for a Lake Powell Pipeline

/in , , /by /The Nevada Independent by Richard Spotts

In politics, what goes around can and sometimes should come around. A case in point is the Desert National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Powell Pipeline.

Utah’s infamous Rep. Rob Bishop, known for his abysmally bad voting record on public lands and environmental issues, recently pulled off a “sneak attack” on Nevada in the House Armed Services Committee. On July 1st, reportedly without consulting with any Nevada officials, he put forward an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act legislation to give the Air Force primary control over approximately 850,000 acres of the DNWR.

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How PFAS Negotiations Fell Apart

/in , , /by /E&E News by Ariana Figueroa

Before Democrats managed to secure provisions to address a class of toxic chemicals in an annual defense measure, negotiations fell apart at the hands of their own members.

For months, Democrats pushed to attach provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that would designate a class of 5,000 toxic chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as hazardous.

Doing so would spark federal cleanup standards. Democrats also wanted EPA to set a strong drinking water standard.

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