PEER

In response to a PEER complaint, EPA admitted that two of the most widely-used forms of “forever chemicals” are still being manufactured and imported in the U.S.

EPA has cited its claim that PFOA and PFOS are no longer produced domestically as one reason to delay PFAS regulation. Yet, the toxic chemicals are in the lining of millions of plastic containers carrying an array of consumer, commercial, and industrial products, and these chemicals are leaching into the containers’ contents.

“This rare touch of candor by EPA is welcome, but it does not address the free flow of toxic PFAS saturating our food, water, and soil. Now that EPA has admitted that these two legacy PFAS are still manufactured in the U.S., it is past time to take effective enforcement action,” said PEER Science Policy Director Kyla Bennett, a scientist and attorney formerly with EPA.

https://ow.ly/ATXO50ZQZ24

A USDA plan would push national forests toward more off-road and motorized traffic while removing the standards that protect wildlife, water, and other forest users. PEER and FSEEE: Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics submitted comments opposing the plan.

Adopted in response to surging off-road vehicle use and the spread of user-created routes, the Travel Management Rule ended unmanaged cross-country motor vehicle travel on national forests. Each forest and grassland designates the roads, trails, and areas open to motor vehicles on a free Motor Vehicle Use Map, created specifically to limit damage to soil, water, vegetation, and wildlife habitat and to reduce user conflicts.

Nearly every national forest (148 of 154) and all 20 national grasslands have completed their maps.

USDA's new proposal would scrap the standards behind those maps and replace them with the assumption that existing routes are open, along with the expectation to consider new routes and complete an annual review of closed ones.

“The Forest Service is proposing to open more roads and trails to motorized traffic while eliminating the employees needed to evaluate, maintain, monitor, and enforce their use. That is a recipe for more environmental destruction and physical danger in our forests,” said Executive Director Tim Whitehouse.

Link in comments.

We're excited to welcome Isabelle Dietz as PEER's Staff Counsel!

Prior to joining PEER, Isabelle served as a trial attorney for the Department of Justice’s Tax Division. She also clerked for the Honorable William K. Sessions III at the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont and for the Honorable Stephen A. Higginson at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Isabelle earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School and her B.A. from Middlebury College.

Welcome to the team, Isabelle!

Under Administrator Lee Zeldin’s leadership, EPA has instituted a culture of fear, destroyed its science and environmental programs, and betrayed its mission to implement federal laws that protect public health and the environment — all to please a few select powerful industries.

From defending fired EPA staff to fighting PFAS pollution in court, check out the latest blog from PEER Executive Director Tim Whitehouse to learn how we're fighting back. Link in comments.

EPA is refusing to be transparent on how it's using artificial intelligence.

The agency refused a request from PEER and the Free Information Group (FIG) seeking its Final Impact Assessments for its use of high-impact AI tools, along with other information on its use of AI in its chemicals program. PEER and FIG are now appealing that decision.

Federal agencies are required to complete an impact assessment before deploying any AI tool classified as "high-impact," meaning its output serves as a principal basis for decisions that carry legal, material, or significant effects on public health, safety, or rights. EPA is refusing to release these assessments, even as it publicly touts how it plans to use AI in its chemical programs.

If an AI tool is used to shape decisions that affect people's health, safety, or rights, the agency should be required to document and disclose that impact to the public.

“The public has a fundamental right to know the impact of high-impact AI tools being used by government agencies,” said PEER Executive Director Tim Whitehouse. “These tools are paid for by the American taxpayers, and they affect our health, safety, and rights.”

Read more in our latest press release. Link in comments.

🚨 ACTION ALERT 🚨
Tell the Trump administration to keep protections in place for America's roadless national forests!

For 25 years, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has protected national forests from commercial logging and road construction. The Rule protects about a quarter of our 193 million acres of national forest.

Now, the federal government wants to take even that protection away. If that happens, 45 million acres of protected forest will be vulnerable to logging, drilling, mining, and other destructive industries.

Rescinding the Rule undermines Forest Service employee expertise and the scientific research it was built on. Combined with other recent rollbacks of environmental protections, it would put already-vulnerable wildlife at even greater risk.

Now is your chance to stand up for your national forests. The government has extended the deadline for public comments until October 6. Visit http://peer.org/roadlessrule to learn how you can submit your comments today.

Thank you for using your voice to fight for your public lands!

PEER supporters, you've shown your dedication yet again!

This year’s Double Trouble fundraising campaign has come to a close, and we have exciting news to share: thanks to you, we met our $70,000 match!

Whether you made a gift or shared our work with friends and colleagues, it all made a difference.

Your support keeps us fighting for federal employees who risk their careers to tell the truth, protect the public, and uphold the laws they swore to enforce. It also helps us continue our work exposing corruption and self-dealing in the Trump administration, defending our public lands, and so much more.

We are deeply grateful to every supporter. Thank you for making our work possible.

EPA is calling its addition of microplastics to the official “Contaminant Candidate List” a "historic action." But here's the problem: not one of the more than 200 chemicals EPA has placed on the list since 1998 are currently regulated.

EPA issued its first Contaminant Candidate List (CCL) in 1998, and has since listed 209 unique chemicals or chemical groups for potential regulation by mandating maximum limits of these chemicals in drinking water. This April, EPA added microplastics to the sixth version of the list.

A PEER analysis of every CCL since the program's inception found that final regulatory action is elusive at best: of the 209 listings, only two forms of PFAS (PFOA and PFOS) have led to final drinking water regulations — and those limits don't take effect until 2031. That puts the number of CCL-based regulations currently in effect at zero.

“Even a cursory examination reveals that EPA’s action on microplastics is an empty gesture. The record proves that EPA’s Contaminant Candidate List is a regulatory road to nowhere.” said PEER Science Policy Director Kyla Bennett.

Link in comments.