[JURIST] Leading Tuesday's environmental law news, the US Environmental Protection Agency [official website] has announced it will propose regulations for remodeling or renovating a home with lead-based paint by the end of the year. A federal law [text] had been passed in 1992 that requires contractors to disseminate information to homeowners [EPA factpage] before renovating certain properties, but the EPA has yet to adopt any corresponding regulations establishing the standards to be followed. AP has more.

In other environmental law news…

• Judge David Bunning of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky [official website] heard a case Monday that sought an injunction against the US Army Corps of Engineers (CoE)[official website] from issuing permits that would allow mountaintop mining. Mountaintop mining [official backgrounder] pushes the tops of hills into an adjacent valley to expose coal veins. Opponents of the practice argue that streambeds and other waterways are often buried or otherwise adversely effected in the process. Last year, a federal district judge ruled [PDF text] that the CoE failed to comply with the federal Clean Water Act [PDF text] in approving valley fill permits in southern West Virginia. AP has more.
• Health Canada [official website], the Canadiam federal department of health, has banned the use of lead acetate in cosmetics, beginning in 2007. Products containing the compound include Grecian Formula 16 [corporate website], traditionally used by males to darken graying hair. Lead acetate has been banned from cosmetics in the European Union and the state of California, as a potential carcinogen. The US Food and Drug Administration [official website] has determined that there is no safety hazard with the compound when used as instructed and allows for its use in cosmetics, following certain labeling requirements [FDA backgrounder]. The Ottawa Citizen has more.