Environment

An environmental group is suing the Trump administration, saying its proposed wall along the southern border violates environmental law. The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit along with SEEC Member Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), saying the Department of Homeland Security is obligated to draft a new environmental review to examine the impacts of the wall and other border enforcement activities.

On the seventh anniversary of the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, congressional Democrats reintroduced legislation aimed at better protecting the health and safety of coal miners and reforming the program that provides benefits to victims of black lung disease. The bills were introduced in the Senate by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Bob Casey, D-Pa., and in the House of Representatives by SEEC Member Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., and and SEEC Vice-Chair Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Pa.

The Trump administration is proposing to eliminate two Environmental Protection Agency programs that reduce children’s exposure to lead-based paint, a toxin that can cause permanent brain damage and is particularly prevalent in Maine because of its older housing. SEEC Vice-Chair Rep. Chellie Pingree was more blunt. “I honestly don’t know how something like these cuts even ends up on the table,” she said via email. “In this day and age, no child should have to grow up with exposure to lead. When did that become a matter of debate?” Cutting the funds, she said, would put more strain on the states and result in fewer children having “a safe place to grow up in future.”