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FDA’s approach to setting draft action levels for lead in juice is based on ill-conceived presumptions.

Roya Alkafaji, Manager, Healthy Communities and Lindsay McCormick, Senior Manager, Safer Chemicals Denver Water has one of the most successful lead service line (LSL) replacement programs in the country. Since it began the program in 2020, the utility has replaced nearly 14,000 LSLs—prioritizing lines to buildings serving vulnerable populations, such as child-care facilities. Denver Water …

Maricel Maffini, consultant and Tom Neltner, Chemicals Policy Director In May, FDA decided to allow continued use of nine ortho-phthalates in food packaging and processing equipment but punted on deciding whether or not using those phthalates is safe. We’ve written about the petitions that resulted in the decision, along with the agency’s decision to “abandon” …

EDF statement on the creation of the new Office of Environmental Justice at EPA

As the water situation becomes particularly dire in Oregon's Harney Basin, EDF and Culp & Kelly, LLC have released a new Voluntary Agreements Analysis report to advance the community’s understanding of one potential approach for locally driven water management.

Farms, ranches and forests can get the U.S. 17% of the way toward the national goal to cut emissions in half by 2030.

This EDF report provides the first set of science-based targets for annual emission reductions from U.S. farms, ranches and forests.

EDF statement from Katelyn Roedner Sutter, Senior Manager, U.S. Climate

North Carolina is taking steps to ensure coastal resilience following the storm.

USDA awarded $2.8 billion for pilot projects that develop and expand markets for crops and livestock farmed in ways that reduce emissions or sequester carbon.

Methane is the climate opportunity companies and policymakers can’t afford to miss. In fact, reducing methane emissions is critical to slowing global warming in the near term and meeting net zero climate goals. As companies and policymakers look to drive new opportunities to reduce agricultural methane emissions, understanding where producers are today and how to …

Climate legislation failed five times before the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

This post was co-authored by Natalie Hurd, Western states climate policy intern at EDF. Washington state is on the cusp of finalizing the rules to launch its ambitious new climate policy. This comes at an important moment of opportunity for states to lean into their climate commitments and increase their ambition. The passage of the …

This post was co-authored by Caroline Jones, Analyst for U.S. Climate The heat is on in Sacramento. With less than a week left in the California State Legislature’s session (which ends on August 31), a set of potentially game-changing climate policies are on the table. Earlier this month, Governor Newsom released a series of proposals …

A new policy brief from Environmental Defense Fund shows that investment in a few of the Inflation Reduction Act's key climate finance programs could catalyze 10 times greater investment from the private sector.

On Wednesday, September 7, 2022, Sarah Vogel, EDF’s Senior Vice President for Health, welcomed over 150 attendees to a webinar on EDF’s new Cumulative Risk Assessment Framework (CRAF). The event featured presentations by: Lariah Edwards, PhD, EDF post-doctoral fellow and Associate Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.

Maricel Maffini, EDF consultant and Tom Neltner, Chemicals Policy Director This blog is the sixth in our Broken GRAS series where we explore the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) voluntary notification system for novel chemicals added to food. In May, FDA removed its approval for all uses of 19 ortho-phthalates …

Maria Doa, PhD, Senior Director, Chemicals Policy Innovation may involve bringing a new chemical to market, but before the new chemical can be used or sold, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the nation’s primary chemical safety law, directs EPA to conduct a safety assessment. Specifically, EPA must affirmatively determine whether a new chemical may …

FDA has taken an important step by lowering the IRL for lead. It needs to use this IRL more strategically in establishing action levels for lead in juice and for other children’s foods. It should also use the 97.5th percentile of exposure in establishing IRLs for other toxic elements addressed in Closer to Zero. The post Over 7 million children exceed FDA’s new daily maximum intake level of lead first appeared on EDF Health.

Climate legislation failed 5 times before the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

EDF believes the goal of a more effective permitting process is worthwhile, particularly to improve the review of needed clean energy projects.

President Biden will make an appearance at the iconic Detroit Auto Show this week, where he’s sure to tout the historic jolt the Inflation Reduction Act will provide the electric car market. But the incentives of the IRA will reach beyond the Teslas, Mustang Mach-Es and Ford F-150 Lightnings that will get a significant boost …

What happens at Climate Week matters more than ever. Global leaders and corporations must set the stage for significant climate commitments. EDF is focused on the biggest actions to go bold on climate. Please join us.

What if you could fight climate change and save money at the same time? The combination of rebates and tax credits included in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act help you do exactly that.

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) welcomed Michael Myatt today as a Senior Director, Climate Resilient Water Systems, to help lead its California water work.