On the associated primes of local cohomology

Let $R$ be a commutative Noetherian ring of prime characteristic $p$. In this paper we give a short proof using filter regular sequences that the set of associated prime ideals of $H^t_I(R)$ is finite for any ideal $I$ and for any $t \ge 0$ when $R$ has finite $F$-representation type or finite singular locus. This extends a previous result by Takagi-Takahashi and gives affirmative answers for a problem of Huneke in many new classes of rings in positive characteristic. We also give a criterion about the singularities of $R$ (in any characteristic) to guarantee that the set of associated primes of $H^2_I(R)$ is always finite.