Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has announced a $4.8 million settlement with Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, resolving environmental violations related to the building’s cooling system, which uses water drawn from the Chicago River.

The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some so-called forever chemicals in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two common ones.

Illinois regulators are considering adopting a set of standards to improve air quality. The Illinois Pollution Control Board took hours of testimony Monday from environmental and other advocates.

At issue is the Sims Metal Management company in Pilsen, which was cited by state and federal officials for violating environmental laws. The company agreed to build new equipment to contain emissions from at the site.

In 2022, most of the world’s nations agreed to make the first legally binding treaty on plastics pollution, including in the oceans. Final treaty negotiations take place in South Korea in November.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced $4.3 billion in funding Monday as part of its Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, and Illinois was a big winner, nabbing $430 million.

NASCAR unveiled its first electric racecar Saturday in downtown Chicago, but it doesn’t thunder when the grand marshal says “drivers, start your engines.” It hums.

The rule applies mostly to states in the South and Midwest that contribute to air pollution along the East Coast. Some states, including Illinois and Wisconsin, both contribute to downwind pollution and receive it from other states.

Developers are pumping the brakes on plans for a controversial logistics and distribution hub in North Lawndale. The project would tear down two buildings preservationists said are historically significant to make way for the nearly 250,000-square-foot facility.

“One of the biggest things about litter is it makes people think that the river is more polluted than it is,” said Margaret Frisbie, executive director of Friends of the Chicago River.

“At the end of the day, it’s about respect for this community — the immigrant, Mexican community of Little Village, and it’s about justice,” attorney Scott Rauscher said.

Environmental advocates in the Chicago area and northwest Indiana applauded a tough new slate of Environmental Protection Agency rules for coal-fired power plants — rules that cover local generating stations that are already offline or slated to be phased out.

Black and Brown communities in Illinois are up to 200% more likely to live near a distribution warehouse than the overall statewide population, according to a new report by the Environmental Defense Fund on the state’s “warehouse boom.”

Gasoline with 10% ethanol is already sold nationwide, but the higher blend has been prohibited in the summer because of concerns it could worsen smog during warm weather.

During the more than hourlong confirmation hearing, Marlene Hopkins was not asked about what she did as the top official from the city’s Buildings Department charged with overseeing the implosion of the smokestack at the former Crawford Power Plant in Little Village.

Alliance for the Great Lakes has collected 20 years’ worth of data from beach cleanups. Tiny plastic trash is a huge problem.