EPA signals alarming proposal to abandon federal environmental protections

WASHINGTON — Late yesterday, the Trump administration’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it will take aggressive action to gut bedrock environmental protections at the expense of communities, public health, and climate progress.

While the initial proposal still requires EPA to follow the process of getting rid of existing environmental regulations, it signals a fundamental redefinition of the agency’s role from protecting public health and the environment to catering to industrial polluters’ interests.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated plans to eradicate critically important regulations, including:

• The basis for EPA’s efforts to prevent catastrophic climate change by eliminating the agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
• Limits on mercury, carbon, and toxic pollution from fossil-fueled power plants.
• The “good neighbor rule” requiring states to address their own air pollution and ensure that it does not impact downwind states’ ability to meet federal air quality standards.
• Limits on water pollution from old coal ash dumps at inactive power plants, which leak arsenic, mercury, lead, and many other pollutants into nearby rivers, lakes, and groundwater.
• Tailpipe emissions standards for heavy and light-duty vehicles.
• Enforcement efforts that protect communities of color and those living in low wealth areas from pollution and the impacts of climate change.

These actions will have particularly devastating impacts for Southern states where EPA serves a critical role enforcing basic environmental protections, providing grants for local projects that support jobs and boost the economy, and stepping in to lead clean-up efforts when environmental disaster strikes.

In response, the following statement is from Geoff Gisler, Program Director for the Southern Environmental Law Center:

“What the Trump administration has outlined would be the end of EPA and federal environmental protections as we have known them in our lifetimes. Rather than protecting the environment, this EPA is proposing to take an active role in degrading it. Slashing environmental protections under the guise of cutting costs will come at the expense of the health and safety of our communities and our economy. Clean air and water don’t happen on their own — our communities depend on federal funding and expertise as the foundation for commonsense safeguards. We are committed to fight EPA’s alarming proposals to gut these essential protections and will continue to stand with communities in our region and across the nation to defend protections for our air, water, wildlife, and public lands.”