Water utilities across the country will have to comply with EPA limits on "forever chemicals" in drinking water by 2029. Orange County, Calif., got a head start.

A federal project to remove toxic metals from the soil in two westside Atlanta neighborhoods has reached a halfway point. The Environmental Protection Agency is relying on community engagement.

Federal employee unions are fervently supporting Kamala Harris for president, in part because they like her pro-labor policies, but just as much because they fear a second Trump term.

Solar energy can reduce climate pollution and electric bills. The U.S. government will soon start giving out $7 billion in grants for solar programs for low-income homes, like this program with nonprofit GRID Alternatives.

The federal government announced a settlement with Marathon Oil for alleged air quality violations at the company's oil and gas operations on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.

Noise from roads, airports and equipment like leaf blowers has been linked with serious health impacts. Decades ago, the U.S. government passed a law limiting it, but it has no teeth.

A new report shows that at least 36% of annual greenhouse gas emissions in the United States come from rural America, but they’re mostly used to produce energy and food for urban and suburban America. 

As part of its ongoing effort to replace diesel-fueled school buses, the Biden administration on Wednesday said it will provide approximately 530 school districts across nearly all states with almost $1 billion to help them purchase clean school buses.

Even before EPA issued the first ever drinking water standards for PFAS chemicals last month, state and local water officials in Coastal Georgia were monitoring for and making plans to address these “forever chemicals.”

Ten years ago, Flint, Mich. switched water sources to the Flint River. The lack of corrosion control in the pipes caused lead to leach into the water supply of tens of thousands of residents. Pediatrician Mona Hanna-Attisha recognized a public health crisis in the making and gathered data proving the negative health impact on Flint's young children. In doing so, she and community organizers in Flint sparked a national conversation about lead in the U.S. water system that persists today.

Today on the show, host Emily Kwong and science correspondent Pien Huang talk about the state of Flint and other cities with lead pipes. Efforts to replace these pipes hinge on proposed changes to the EPA's Lead and Copper Rule.

Have questions or comments for us to consider for a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you!

Why is a famous elementary particle in the news? Where is Chechnya and what did it ban? Which prince is Andrew again? If you know these things, you'll get at least a 3 out of 11.

Colonial Oil would pay a $2.8 million fine and spend $12.2 million on renewable fuel credits, under a proposed settlement.

Some say that topdown solutions for Georgia’s coal ash ponds ignore depths of community health woes and the reality of how water flows.

The Windy City has the most lead pipes of any U.S. city. A study estimates that more than two-thirds of children there are exposed to lead in their home tap water.

The EPA has finalized the strictest-ever limits on greenhouse gas emissions from heavy-duty trucks, a category that includes everything from buses to garbage trucks.