Infrastructure

"Illinois lawmakers last week passed a new law establishing more robust requirements for monitoring per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — better known as PFAS “forever chemicals” — in wastewater discharges at major facilities across the state. The deciding 64-34 House vote came just days after the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rescinding limits for select toxic PFAS compounds in drinking water — a decision that environmental advocates, and the Illinois EPA, immediately rebuffed."

"The Republican appropriations bill for the Interior Department proposes per-turbine fees for wind projects, potentially boosting those costs much higher than fees paid by oil and gas companies."

"Brazil’s government announced Wednesday that it will invest $75 million in the BR-319 highway cutting through the Amazon rainforest, a project environmentalists say could accelerate deforestation and worsen climate change."

"GOOCHLAND, Va.—Deborah Blackburn leaned on her cane in a line to enter the Central High Cultural and Educational Complex, angst-ridden over a giant transmission line proposal for reasons that are common refrains here: It’s all to benefit data centers in Northern Virginia, and it will disrupt the rural character here outside Richmond."

"A new Trump administration plan to ditch Pfas drinking water regulations and instead attempt to destroy “forever chemicals” on a wide scale tears a page from the fossil fuel industry’s carbon capture playbook, and will benefit the industry while harming public health."

"The administration is spending at least $67 million worth of fees paid by visitors to national parks on fixing D.C. fountains and the Reflecting Pool."

"Artificial intelligence is making it easier for bad actors to initiate cyberattacks on water infrastructure, yet the water sector remains inadequately prepared, a panel of experts told lawmakers Thursday." "House lawmakers are considering whether more funding or expanded EPA authority could address the problem."

"It’s a milestone moment that shows just how much clean energy has matured in a short amount of time — and a lot more growth is on the way."

"At the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission headquarters in Virginia, staff knew their crumbling asphalt parking lot was in desperate need of repair. But instead of replacing the lot with more dark blacktop, the group chose an alternative."

"Plans for a celebrity-backed “hyperscale” data center in rural Utah, so massive that it would consume more than double the state’s current electricity use, have generated an intense public and political backlash in a state where the motto is “industry” and a Republican supermajority tends to be deferential to development."