TOP STORIES

The NTAA is announcing the release of the NTAA mobile app! Take the Weekly Update’s latest air quality news with you wherever you go via your iPhone or android smart phone! The app is available on both the Apple App and Google Play stores. It is also free to download!

NTAA is seeking quotes from interested parties willing to conduct a national needs assessment of all federally recognized Tribes to ascertain the budgetary and programmatic needs of the Tribes related to the management of air quality programs. Click here to view the Request for Offers. This request closes on March 20, 2021.

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

Pew Charitable Trust – In Hard-Hit Indian Country, Tribes Rapidly Roll Out Vaccines

Science Daily – Commuters are inhaling unacceptably high levels of carcinogens

Inside Climate News – A New Study Closes the Case on the Mysterious Rise of a Climate Super-Pollutant

EPA – EPA Awards Contracts Worth up to $220 million to Three Companies for Cleanup at Navajo Nation Area Abandoned Uranium Mines

Buzzfeed News – Trump Led An “All-Out Assault” On The EPA. Now Biden Has To Rebuild It.

NY Times – Biden’s Climate Task Force Opens for Business, Aiming to Restore ‘Credibility’

NY Times – There’s no one size fits all treatment for asthma

WION – Study reveals irreversible link between air pollution and vision loss

Slate – Gassed Up

Salon – Communities of color are saving the planet — why won’t funders support what works?

National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update

Climate Change/Energy

E&E News – 40% of climate benefits? Explaining Biden’s EJ promise

The Guardian – Heating Arctic may be to blame for snowstorms in Texas, scientists argue

The Guardian – US conservatives falsely blame renewables for Texas storm outages

The New Yorker – When Climate Change and Xenophobia Collide

Washington Post – EPA to jettison major Obama climate rule, as Biden eyes a bigger push

Global Climate Change – ACTIVATE Begins Year Two of Marine Cloud Study

TIME – Healthy Planet, Healthy People. How Slowing Climate Change Saves Lives

ClimateWire – COVID-19 aid should be contingent on climate action: report

The Guardian – California’s rainfall is at historic lows. That spells trouble for wildfires and farms

Toxics/Mobile Sources

The Hill – Electric vehicles are poised to aid Biden in climate fight

The Hill – Trump EPA ripped over approach to chemical risk evaluations in new report

CNN – Shell says its oil production has peaked and will all every year

The Guardian – ‘A clear danger’: oil spill in California city revives calls to cut ties with Chevron

High Country News – New Mexico eyed for major nuclear waste storage facility

Gizmodo – Facebook Is Letting a Pipeline Company Run Ads While Muzzling Its Opponents

Mother Jones – How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves

The Hill – Biden administration delays Trump rule allowing companies to pay less money for drilling on federal lands

Indoor Air Quality

Washington Post – The coronavirus is airborne. Here’s how to know if you’re breathing other people’s breath.

Businesswire – United States Indoor Air Quality Market Report 2021: Impact of COVID-19 on the Industry

JD Supra – EPA Extends Coronavirus Enforcement Against On-Line Sales of Unregistered Disinfectants

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NTAA is seeking quotes from interested parties willing to conduct a national needs assessment of all federally recognized Tribes to ascertain the budgetary and programmatic needs of the Tribes related to the management of air quality programs. Click here to view the Request for Offers. This request closes on March 20, 2021.

NY Times – Tribal Elders Are Dying From the Pandemic, Causing a Cultural Crisis for American Indians

AP – Senate panel advances EPA nominee; GOP slams Interior pick

PBS Newshour – Biden EPA nominee vows ‘sense of urgency’ on climate change

Reuters – U.S. cities underestimating their carbon emissions – study

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

CNN – Fossil fuel air pollution causes almost 1 in 5 deaths globally each year

Vox – The mess that Biden’s EPA nominee Michael Regan will inherit, explained

Washington Examiner – Scrapping Keystone XL pipeline makes Biden a tribal hero, but villain off reservation

The Hill – Court strikes down part of rule easing pollution standard implementation

E&E – DOJ ditches Trump policies, restores focus on polluters

AP – Judge blocks Trump rule to limit health studies in EPA regs

Science Magazine – Death of EPA’s controversial ‘censored science’ rule delights researchers

Slate – The Fight Against Big Tobacco Can Teach Us How to Fight Big Oil

National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update

Climate Change/Energy

NY Times – Two Biden Priorities, Climate and Inequality, Meet on Black-Owned Farms

NY Times – How Climate Change May Affect Your Health

TIME – Biden’s Biggest Climate Move: Signaling that Fossil Fuels Are Not the Future

AZ Central – Heat killed a record number of people in Arizona last year, ‘a staggering increase’

Reuters – How Biden’s climate agenda aims to trigger a ‘good-paying’ jobs boom

Climate Change News – Fatal Himalayan glacial lake outburst highlights destabilizing effect of warming

The Washington Post – The Energy 202: Biden stokes hope among climate scientists

Gizmodo – The Murky Connection Between the Coronavirus and Climate Change

Newsone – A Global Fight For Freedom: Black Lives Matter Movement Nominated for 2021 Nobel Peace Prize

Toxics/Mobile Sources

The Hill – Court pauses litigation on Trump-California vehicle emissions fight

The Hill – Biden gets more time to decide on Dakota Access Pipeline

The Hill – EPA alleges political interference by Trump officials over toxic chemical

Gizmodo – How the Department of Energy and Transportation Could Revolutionize How We Get Around

The Wall Street Journal – Exxon, Chevron CEOs Discussed Merger

Nexus – DOI Effectively Suspends Public Lands Drilling

Indoor Air Quality

Forbes – Indoor Air Quality Takes Center Stage During Building Reopening

Science Daily – Advanced simulations reveal how air conditioning spreads COVID-19 aerosols

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NTAA has published a fact sheet as part of a Policy Resource Kit to help Tribes respond to EPA’s Updated Indoor airPLUS Version 2 building specifications. This updated version revises specifications for the new construction market and expands project eligibility to include multifamily buildings of all heights. Approved Indoor airPLUS labeled homes and apartments provide peace of mind to home buyers and renters seeking to keep their family healthy. NTAA is preparing a template letter that Tribes can use to comment. You can click here to view the fact sheet released today. Comments are due into EPA by March 17^th

Politico – EPA nominee hits the Hill today

*Editor’s Note: You can watch today’s confirmation hearing today at 2pm ET here.

The Hill – Court rules against fast-track of Trump EPA’s ‘secret science’ rule

NY Times – Biden, Emphasizing Job Creation, Signs Sweeping Climate Actions

KLAW – As COVID Spreads Through Indian Country, Communities Work To Save Elders & Native Languages

Ambient Air Quality/EPA/NTAA/Tribes

Indian Country Today – Joe Biden: ‘Tribal sovereignty will be a cornerstone’

The Hill – Biden signals major shift on regulations with first-day orders

The Hill – Court strikes down part of rule easing pollution standard implementation

Vox – Trump’s environmental legacy suffers two major court losses

High Country News – The fight for an equitable energy economy for the Navajo Nation

The Conversation – Biden has pledged to advance environmental justice – here’s how the EPA can start

CNN – Air pollution is linked to an increased risk of irreversible sight loss, study finds

The Dickinson Press – ‘Truth, healing and reconciliation’ bill aims to bring tribes, North Dakota together

National Association of Clean Air Agencies – Washington Update

Climate Change/Energy

Bloomberg Green – Climate Experts Game Out Biden’s 2035 Goal in a Split Senate

Scientific American – Five Things in Biden’s Climate Day Orders That Flew Under the Radar

Scientific American – Earth Day Summit Will Mark U.S. Return to Global Climate Talks

Forbes – U.S. Will Profit From Eliminating Carbon Emissions ‘Even If You Don’t Care About Climate’

High North News – Alaskan Tribes applaud protection of the Northern Bering Sea

Toxics/Mobile Sources

NY Times – G.M. Will Sell Only Zero-Emission Vehicles by 2035

Scientific American – EPA Races to Draft Interim Vehicle Standards for CO₂

Indian Country Today – Great interruption could end pipelines

Indoor Air Quality

Navajo-Hopi Observer – Sen. Mark Kelly said one goal is to work with tribes in Arizona on COVID-19

Canadian Architect – What every architect needs to know about air and SarsCov2

Be sure to subscribe to EPA’s IAQ Bulletins