skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Cutting EPA Grants Means More Illness in WV

play audio
Play

Tuesday, September 5, 2017   

CHARLESTON, W. Va. – Deep cuts to federal grants that help state and local officials protect clean air and water would threaten the health and livelihoods of West Virginians, according to a new report. The Trump Administration has proposed cutting nearly one-third from the Environmental Protection Agency's budget.

According to the "State of Risk" report from the Environmental Defense Fund, those cuts would mean more people getting sick from pollution in air and water, and on land - because health and environmental agencies depend on those grants.

Bill Becker is the former executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.

"If states and localities faced a 30-percent cut in federal funding to run their programs, more people would die prematurely and many more would get sick unnecessarily," he notes. "And that would be tragic because all of these illnesses are preventable."

Critics of the EPA in the coal industry and its political allies argue the agency and the regulations it enforces have deeply damaged the industry. But the federal Energy Information Agency says cheap natural gas has caused most of the decline in demand for coal.

The State of Risk report projects the cuts would eliminate or hobble state programs dealing with local tap water quality, brownfield redevelopment and threats from leaking underground storage tanks. And Becker adds cutting the EPA grants also means problems for other types of businesses - for example, reducing the appeal of outdoor recreation.

"If you take away the regulations to help reduce emissions in these areas, then visibility will be further impaired and the public may not be as excited about going to some of our nation's treasures as they previously were," he explains.

The EPA grants to West Virginia totaled almost a quarter-billion dollars in the last five years. According to the report, Congress will likely decide the fate of the funding over the next 30 days.



get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021