Biden administration restores the power of states and tribes to review projects to protect waterways
States and Native American tribes will have greater authority to block energy projects such as natural gas pipelines that could pollute rivers and streams under a final rule issued Thursday by the Biden administration.
House advances bill that could provide billions of dollars for new water projects and fixing aging infrastructure
The bill aims to create a water supply four times the size of Lake Livingston, one of the stateโs largest reservoirs. But it may still be a โdrop in the bucketโ compared to the stateโs needs.
House GOP votes to overturn Biden rule on water protections
The House has voted 227-198 to overturn the Biden administrationโs protections for thousands of small streams, wetlands and other waterways, advancing long-held Republican arguments that the regulations are an environmental overreach and burden to business.
Environmental advocates push feds to investigate Texasโ enforcement of water quality
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to investigate allegations that the state is failing to enforce the Clean Water Act. Environmentalists say the Texas Commission on Environmental Qualityโs system of issuing permits has made it too easy for industries to contaminate rivers, lakes and estuaries.
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New rule may strip pollution protections from popular lakes
This Sept. 14, 2020 photo shows shows a Duke Energy natural gas-fired electric power plant on Sutton Lake in Wilmington, N.C. It went online in 2013 and replaced a coal-fired plant that had polluted the lake with coal ash. It would provide a source of steam to generate electricity and a place to cool hot water from an adjacent coal-fired plant. Sutton Lake became popular with boaters and anglers, yielding bass, crappie, bluegill and other panfish. But environmental groups challenging the Trump rule in court say it opens up reservoirs like Sutton Lake to similar abuse.