TAMPA, Fla.—A federal judge has upheld a 2009 formal determination by the Environmental Protection Agency that numeric nutrient standards are necessary for Florida's waters, but invalidated certain aspects of the water quality criteria the agency developed (Florida Wildlife Federation v. Johnson, N.D. Fla., No. 4:08-cv-00324, 2/18/12).

The Environmental Protection Agency Feb. 16 released a general permit for stormwater discharges from construction sites that requires permit holders to develop plans to prevent runoff and erosion from the sites.

The Environmental Protection Agency will publish final mercury and air toxics standards for power plants Feb. 16, and industry groups and states are expected to challenge the agency's finding that it is “appropriate and necessary” to regulate such emissions.

Neither attorney-client privilege nor attorney work product doctrine protect strategic planning documents from disclosure to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, despite claims by in-house counsel that it needed them in “anticipation of potential litigation,” a federal district court in Wisconsin ruled Feb. 8 (Solis v. Milk Specialties Co., E.D. Wis., No. 11-MC-72-JPS, 2/8/12).

President Obama Feb. 13 proposed a fiscal year 2013 budget containing $8.3 billion in discretionary funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, a $105 million decrease from fiscal 2012 achieved through cuts to state wastewater treatment and drinking water funds.

The Environmental Protection Agency formally concluded Feb. 10 that a widely used dry cleaning solvent is a likely human carcinogen, paving the way for the agency to reconsider drinking water and other standards for the chemical.

The Senate Finance Committee has approved a measure that for the next six years would eliminate the annual cap on how much cites and towns may raise through private tax-exempt bonds to fund drinking water and wastewater infrastructure repairs.

The Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General is looking at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program to determine if its criteria are clearly defined and applied consistently, according to the inspector general's audit workplan for 2012.

The Environmental Protection Agency has sent a proposed rule on revisions to its greenhouse gas permitting program to the White House for review. The proposed rule is expected to solicit comments on the third step of the greenhouse gas tailoring rule.