EPA Watchdog: ‘Emergency’ Pesticide Approval Process Is Flawed

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of the Inspector General released a report today finding that the agency's practice of routinely granting "emergency" approval for use of pesticides across millions of acres does not effectively measure risks to human health or the environment. The inspector general recommended that the EPA "develop and implement applicable outcome-based performance measures to demonstrate the human health and environmental effects of the EPA's emergency exemption decisions."

Former nuclear site will open to public as wildlife refuge

A unique wildlife refuge on the site of a former nuclear weapons plant in Colorado is opening its gates on Saturday, after a confusing day when officials first said they would not open the refuge and then said they would. The opening of Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, where the U.S. government made plutonium triggers for nuclear bombs, has been in the works for months, surviving court challenges and protests.

Former nuclear site will open to public as wildlife refuge Source: AP

A unique wildlife refuge on the site of a former nuclear weapons plant in Colorado is opening its gates on Saturday, after a confusing day when officials first said they would not open the refuge and then said they would. The opening of Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge, where the U.S. government made plutonium triggers for nuclear bombs, has been in the works for months, surviving court challenges and protests.

Restoration project seeks to improve coastal wetlands

In an attempt to enhance some of Georgia's premier coastal wildlife management areas, the state Department of Natural Resources has partnered with Ducks Unlimited in a multimillion-dollar wetland restoration project to improve public recreation opportunities, water quality, coastal resilience and waterfowl habitat over the next five years. DU staff members and GDNR announced the recently signed agreement at the recent Georgia Ducks Unlimited state convention on Jekyll Island.

In reversal, Pentagon now says it backs GOP measure on birds

In an abrupt reversal, the Pentagon said Thursday it supports a Republican proposal in a defense policy bill that would bar the Fish and Wildlife Service from using the Endangered Species Act to protect two chicken-like birds in the western half of the U.S. In an email to Congress, a top Pentagon official said the proposal could help avoid any "negative readiness impacts on military facilities" that might result from listing the sage grouse and lesser-prairie chicken as endangered. The statement by Pete Giambastiani, a legislative affairs aide, directly repudiates comments Wednesday by Pentagon officials calling the GOP proposal unnecessary.

USDA reopens CRP signups

As part of a 33-year effort to protect sensitive lands and improve water quality and wildlife habitat on private lands, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will resume accepting applications for the voluntary Conservation Reserve Program. Eligible farmers, ranchers, and private landowners can sign up at their local Farm Service Agency office until Aug. 17, 2018.