Login
FCC Launches Sweeping Review of $3B School Internet Subsidy Program Over Screen Time Concerns
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Wednesday it is launching a sweeping review of its school internet subsidy E-Rate program, citing concerns that increased screen time in schools may be contributing to declining academic performance.
The E-Rate program provides roughly $3 billion annually in discounts for internet access and related connectivity services for eligible schools and libraries. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called the review necessary at a time when screen time use has surged at schools across the nation, particularly since COVID.
He told Fox News Digital that the increased use may be leading to poor educational outcomes, citing an advisory issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this year.
Rubio Says US to ‘reengage’ With Global Vaccine Program
The United States may resume funding for a global humanitarian vaccine alliance, reversing a decision by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to hold up the money because of vaccine concerns, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated Tuesday.
Rubio told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the State Department was wresting back control of the U.S. relationship with Gavi, an organization that distributes vaccines to developing countries.
Rubio said President Trump had asked that Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, “play a leading role” on the Gavi funding decision “because of the strongly held views with regards to vaccine safety, and he wanted them to conduct some reforms.”
Congress has long provided a large part of Gavi’s budget, and the State Department has historically overseen Gavi funding. But Kennedy and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have been holding up $600 million in previously appropriated money because of vaccines he believes are unsafe. Rubio on Tuesday said the State Department was going to “reengage on this issue of Gavi.”
EPA Expands List of Methods That Spare Animals From Deadly Chemical Testing
There’s a list of reasons to celebrate the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s work to replace tests on animals with non-animal methods. In this case, literally. The agency has updated its official list of test methods it considers scientifically reliable and relevant, which could be used to make regulatory decisions.
U.S. law requires the EPA to find better ways to test industrial chemicals without using animals. Under a law called the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the EPA must regularly share a list of scientifically sound testing methods that replace historically used tests on dogs, rabbits, and other animals.
This list of scientific tools and strategies provides examples that the EPA may use in its decision-making regarding chemical regulation. These methods have already been reviewed and supported by scientific and regulatory organizations.
The EPA first issued the list in 2018 and this is the third time it has been updated. Additionally, this is the first time that the agency has included directions for how stakeholders can nominate methods for the EPA to add to the list, which will help expand it even more.
Enviros Sue EPA Over About-Face on Iowa Water Pollution
Environmental groups are suing EPA for lifting seven Iowa rivers from a list of polluted waterways, claiming the decision wasn’t based in science and could leave Iowans more exposed to contaminants from farm runoff that are linked to cancer.
The Biden EPA classified segments of the seven rivers as “impaired” by nitrate and nitrite pollution, setting the stage for regulators to mandate new pollution controls to reduce levels of the contaminants from fertilizers. But the agency reversed course last summer, determining the rivers — drinking water sources for hundreds of thousands of Iowans — weren’t impaired after all. The Environmental Law and Policy Center, Food and Water Watch, and Iowa Environmental Council asked an Iowa district court last month to reverse that finding.
“EPA’s failure to provide any valid justification for rescinding its decision on Iowa’s impaired waters list is arbitrary, capricious, and unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act,” the lawsuit states.
Feds to Open Tens of Thousands of Acres of Colorado Wilderness to Oil Drilling
A federal agency will offer tens of thousands of acres in northwestern Colorado that the nation’s largest elk herd relies upon for migration, foraging and winter habitat to oil and gas companies for lease in the state’s biggest such sale in modern history. More than 100 parcels included in a June 16 lease sale by the Bureau of Land Management encompass elk, pronghorn and mule deer migration corridors that extend into southern Wyoming.
Many sit in Moffat County, which bills itself as the “Elk Hunting Capital of the World,” and relies on the pastime in part for its economic stability. About two-thirds of the acreage in the 156,000-acre lease sale is just south of Dinosaur National Monument, a remote park that’s among the country’s over 40 certified International Dark Sky Places — areas with exceptionally dark night skies.
Tourism officials in Moffat, who saw inquiries drop by more than half this spring, voiced concern that bright lights and truck traffic that accompany fossil fuel extraction could imperil this hard-won designation.
Fewer Chemical Bans Foreseen in EPA’s Coming Risk Control Rules
Regulations the EPA is crafting to reduce unreasonable chemical risks are behind schedule, but when they come, the plans are expected to ban fewer uses of chemicals than previous regulations did.
The Environmental Protection Agency expected to issue four proposed or final risk management rules for chemicals by June 1, according to its most recent regulatory agenda. Proposed and final rules for two additional chemicals are expected this summer, according to the agenda and court documents.
The EPA’s risk evaluations that underpin the coming rules for solvents, flame retardants, and other chemicals primarily found those substances are too risky.
