Niina H. Farah (née Heikkinen) covers regulations and federal agencies for E&E News. She has previously covered climate policy at U.S. EPA under the Trump administration, and agriculture, fisheries and biofuels, with a focus in scientific research and ecological conservation. Before joining the E&E News staff, she was a reporting fellow for Climatewire. She has a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and dual bachelor's degrees in animal science (with a concentration in pre-veterinary medicine) and journalism from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler yesterday said the agency is considering changes to how methane emissions from the oil and gas sector are counted. That could push the industry below Clean Air Act reporting levels.
The Council on Environmental Quality is banking on a fast White House review process as it prepares to release new rules on how the federal government should implement the National Environmental Policy Act.
Regulatory experts say EPA's recent directive to increase consistency in regulatory cost-benefit analyses appears more limited and complicated than the agency had initially planned.
With the official start of the hurricane season a little over a week away, lawmakers called for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to speed up implementation of last year's congressionally mandated reforms on preparing and responding to disasters.
The Trump administration's latest regulatory agenda details plans for replacing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan and Clean Water Rule. Agencies are also mulling actions on energy efficiency, offshore drilling, coal ash and drinking water contaminants.