- Share on Facebook
- Like
- Digg
- Tumblr
- VKontakte
- Buffer
- Love This
- Odnoklassniki
- Meneame
- Blogger
- Amazon
- Yahoo Mail
- Gmail
- AOL
- Newsvine
- HackerNews
- Evernote
- MySpace
- Mail.ru
- Viadeo
- Line
- Comments
- SMS
- Viber
- Telegram
- Subscribe
- Skype
- Facebook Messenger
- Kakao
- LiveJournal
- Yammer
- Edgar
- Fintel
- Mix
- Instapaper
- Copy Link
- Bluesky
By Quenton King, WVEC Vice President
A lot has happened in the federal space in the last few months, and it can be hard to keep track of it all. We hope to offer occasional updates on environmental issues from the federal level.
Big Beautiful Bill (H.R. 1)
On July 3rd, Congress passed a budget reconciliation bill titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The bill eliminates many of the good clean energy policies that were enhanced in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, including reducing tax credits for solar and wind energy and electric vehicles, while also cutting funding for several environmental justice programs. Energy experts believe the bill will lead to higher energy prices as utilities pull back on planned projects. I wrote about the bill in West Virginia Watch this month (https://westvirginiawatch.com/2025/07/10/one-big-bad-deal-for-west-virginia/)
PFAS rollbacks
In May, the Trump administration announced its intention to weaken the “forever chemical” rule that the Biden administration finalized last year. The rule established the first-ever limitations for PFAS in drinking water. Now, utilities will have until 2031 to comply with standards for two chemicals, PFOA and PFOS. Some other forever chemicals, like Chemours’ GenX, which were included in last year’s rule will no longer be subject to regulation. This is a tremendous setback for public health. PFAS have proven to be harmful to human health.
EPA program and staff cuts
The administration has been clear that it wants to eliminate staff across the federal government. It has also been cutting programs and funding that it says align with “woke” ideology, including environmental justice. EPA divisions that focus on civil rights, environmental justice, and even research into toxins have experienced budget and staffing cuts.
Power plant regulation rollbacks
Last year, the Biden administration finalized a package of rules aimed at reducing pollutants from coal and natural gas plants. The rules included stricter limits on carbon dioxide emissions and toxic metals, like mercury. This is good — coal plants are extremely dirty operations, and their emissions are significant contributors to climate change; their mercury discharges also pollute water. The Trump administration announced this summer that it intends to repeal these rules. They’ve already allowed dozens of coal plants to be exempt from the rules until the repeal takes effect.
